Liquid Emeralds
by writersblood92
Summary: Her blonde curls fell beautifully around her soft face. Her lips parted slightly, corners turning up into a thin smile. And her eyes… People say that the eyes are the windows to the soul, and maybe that’s what I saw. Her soul.
1. Chapter 1 Imprinting sucks

**This is my first fanfic, so go easy on me. I LOVE the Twilight saga, and adore both werewolves and vampires, so when the story ended, I was desperate for more. I hope you enjoy it, and please review!**

**Oh, and I don't own anything. Not Seth, not Jacob, not… Spoungebob. **

**1. IMPRINTING SUCKS**

"Do you think she's all right? I mean, she looked upset when we left. Should I call her?"

I rolled my eyes up at Jacob – he was still taller than me – and shook my head.

"Jake, she's protected by a whole coven of vampires," I sighed, glancing around in the crowded movie theatre to make sure no one was paying attention at our conversation.

"Well, I'm usually there until she goes to bed. I don't run off to Port Angeles in the middle of the night to watch a movie," Jacob exclaimed, clenching the cup of popcorn until it broke – for the third freaking time!

"Jeez, Jake! Would you stop thinking about that _four-year-old_ girlfriend of yours for just one second?!" I exploded.

The girl next to me, turned to stare, first at me and then at Jacob, probably wondering if he really had a four-year-old girlfriend - which he most certainly did.

Jacob met her gaze with a solid glare, and she quickly turned back to her date.

"Seth…" Jacob's eyes narrowed. "Nessie is not… It's not like that! And she's not a normal four-year-old."

That was true. Nessie was half vampire and half human, and was as far from normal as possible. And she didn't look anything like a four-year-old. She looked sixteen. She was cute too. Huge, chocolate brown eyes and the sweetest smile, not to mention the inhuman beauty she had inherited from her father.

"Yeah, I know, I'm sorry, Jake," I mumbled. My frustration with his babbling had evaporated.

Jacob settled back into his seat, propping one of the remaining popcorns in the cup into his mouth and chewing it slowly.

"'S'okay, Seth. You'll understand once you imprint," he said, looking up at the screen as the light suddenly dimmed. "It's starting."

It was an action movie, I think – a lot of shooting and such – but I didn't pay attention.

It was hardly fair of me to whine about Jacob's weird, anything but normal relationship with Nessie - I wasn't exactly normal myself.

I was a werewolf.

Jacob too, of course. He was the pack leader. Well, one of them, anyway. It had all started when vampires moved back to Forks. Some old legends about werewolves protecting the Quileute tribe turned out to be true, and we started running around in wolf form. It's nothing like those old movies where the full moon suddenly transform you into some sort of a monster, it's more like… if you get angry the wolf inside you just burst out, fur and all, ripping off your clothes in the process. I can phase of free will too.

Well, we made peace with the vamps, who're not so bad after all, and Jacob managed to imprint on the vampire daughter.

_Way to go, Jake._

I didn't know what had brought on my little explosion. Well, okay, so I did. The whole imprinting thing was getting on my nerves. It was supposed to be some magical moment when a werewolf saw his soul mate and everything just clicked. Then he would become anything this girl needed – a brother, a friend… a boyfriend.

It was sort of weird the whole thing.

Once they imprinted they became so… goofy. They worried about their imprint all the time, spent most of their time with her, and always had that annoying, goofy smile – like they'd just gotten morphine shoot into their system. I couldn't even tease them. They were just so… happy!

But that wasn't all that bothered me.

Not only was I the youngest in the pack, I also was the only one who hadn't imprinted yet! I was the only one who wasn't goofy and caring.

Well, me and Leah. I guess in a way I was sort of grateful that she hadn't imprinted either, because then she would be all goofy too, but whenever she caught me thinking it, she all but kicked my ass.

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot – whenever we're in wolf form we can hear each other's thoughts. Really annoying!

"I have to go to the bathroom," I mumbled to Jake and got up.

I had to get out of this crowded movie theatre. Now!

Jacob nodded absentmindedly at me as I made my way through the path of feet. Some of the people groaned and whined as I blocked their view – I was pretty huge – but I didn't take much notice of them.

And there was the door!

I burst through it, and practically ran through the lobby and out into the street. The fresh air hit my face and calmed me down almost at once.

It had started raining, but I didn't mind. The cold droplets felt good against my hot skin. That was one of the things about being a werewolf; I was never cold. Compared to normal people I was very hot, actually.

I smiled dully and let the rain flush across my face as I sat down on the curb.

_Ahhh…._

I caught my reflection in a window across the street and tried to stare it down. I looked sort of handsome, if I might say so myself. Bronze skin, dark hair, huge muscles...

That reminded me. I had to cut my hair soon, or my fur would start dragging on the ground.

_You'll understand once you imprint._

Jacob's voice thundered in my head.

Well, what if I didn't? What if I never found that special girl? She could be living in Japan for all I knew! What's to say I'd ever meet her?!

Imprinting sucks!

I sighed and got to my feet.

I might as well go back inside. Jacob would soon notice that I was gone, and then he would come look for me, and possibly start whining about Nessie again - or worse: imprinting! And I was _not_ in the mood for one of those talks. Not today.

As I got my feet a bike roared down the street and skidded to a stop.

I followed the bike with my eyes, and glanced casually at the driver. He was wearing a black leather outfit and a black helmet with red flames on it – the same sharp red as his bike.

As I watched the driver pulled up his helmet and waves of long, blonde hair flushed out.

It was a girl!

Her blonde curls fell beautifully around her soft face. Her lips parted slightly, corners turning up into a thin smile. And her eyes…

People say that the eyes are the windows to the soul, and maybe that's what I saw. Her soul.

It's hard to explain what was so special about them.

There was this sense of… depth. Like every thought, every secret was lying there, peering out through her eyes, so close that I thought I might be able to decipher them, but yet so far away that they were out of my reach. Still, with all these secrets floating in her eyes, there also was a truthful expression there, so sincere that I would have believed anything coming out of that well formed mouth of hers.

There was this everlasting moment as her eyes met mine. The sharp green emeralds in her eyes melted, and I drowned in them.

And then something clicked.


	2. Chapter 2 Breakfast

**Okay, here I am again.**

**I still don't own anything, although I wish I did – werewolves *sigh* xD**

**2. BREAKFAST**

There was an explosion inside me, and my whole body tingled with a warm, deep sensation. I loved this girl! Just like that. I loved her of all my heart.

I would jump in front of a bus for her. I would die for her. I would do anything for her - anything to make her love me back, because if she didn't there would be no sense in breathing anymore.

My life belonged to her now.

_Her who?_ I suddenly wondered. I loved this girl, and I didn't even know her name. I had to talk to her. I had to hear her voice.

"Hey, Seth!" I was startled by the sudden sound of Jacob's voice. "Where'd you go?"

I turned to face him, reluctantly letting her out of my sight, and tried my best to compose my face.

"Um… I needed some air," I said, trying not to let a certain goofy grin spread across my face.

I resisted the urge to look at her again. I knew she was still there. I could smell her – another werewolf thing – and oh how sweet she smelled.

"I know what you mean. That guy sitting behind us – God he smelled bad!" Jacob grinned at me.

I grinned back, and he must've seen something in my eyes, because he gave me a wondering glance.

"What?" he asked.

"I think I just…" I began, wondering if I should tell him. I had been irritable and probably a little grumpy the last month, complaining about their silly, goofy behaviours and now I had imprinted myself. Maybe I should wait. Until I knew her name, at least.

No. The pack would find out anyway. They would just read my mind next time we were in wolf shape – wasn't all that easy to keep secrets in a pack like ours.

"You what, Seth?" Jacob prompted, looking a little worried now. "You okay?"

"I think I just imprinted," I said, fireworks blossoming inside me. I wanted to share it with the world. I wanted everyone to know that I loved her!

Jacob's face cracked into a wide grin.

"Who is the lucky girl?" he asked.

I turned around to look at her again.

My body was already aching to touch her. Yearning to look at her again, to make sure she was still there, that she was still okay. Longing to take her small body in my arms, stroke her blonde curls away from her face…

I turned just in time to see her put her helmet back on, start the bike and drive off, further down the street, before she turned a corner and was gone.

I deep growl that started deep down in my chest escaped my lips.

"NOOOOOO!"

But she was gone. My body started shaking, and I knew I was about to phase. I didn't care! Maybe if I phased I would be fast enough to catch up with her. Maybe I could follow her, see where she went?

My shaking got worse.

"Seth!" Jacob placed a hand on my shoulder, but I shrugged it off. "Seth, calm down!"

He wasn't just telling me – he was _ordering_ me. I felt my body relax even though I didn't really want it to.

Jacob hated giving us orders – taking away our will like that. I didn't even know he could do that when we were in human shapes before now, but obviously he could.

"Jake," I begged weakly, feeling my knees buckling down underneath me. "I have to go after her…"

"You can't just phase in the middle of a busy street," Jacob hissed back. "C'mon, let's find my car and we'll drive after her."

We did drive after her, but she was gone. Nowhere to be seen. My heart was aching already and a dark pain was throbbing in my chest.

What if I never saw her again? I was doomed to love this girl forever – to the end of time.

For eternity.

If I never saw her again, if she just disappeared out of my life like this… I would surely die. And I wouldn't even mind. It would be better to die than to have this enormously deep pain, piercing my heart with ice cold daggers every single second for the rest of my existence, which would be quite long seeing that once you became a werewolf you stopped aging.

"We'll find her, Seth," Jacob said, trying to comfort me, as he turned the car around and headed back to Forks. It was late, I knew that. We should get back. My mom would worry, Leah would be angry…

_I didn't even know her name._

The daggers were stabbing my chest again, and I all but burst out the door of the speeding car. I had to find her! I didn't care if I was tired and hungry – I wouldn't mind running through all of Port Angeles. I didn't need sleep, I didn't need food, I only needed her. I needed to know she was okay. I needed to see her green, shiny eyes again.

I needed to see _her_.

"Jake…"

"I know, Seth. Really." He gave me a sympathetic look. "We'll drive back up first thing tomorrow, okay? We'll find her." Jacob turned back to the road and I sank into the seat.

Yeah, Jacob knew. He worried about Nessie just as much as I worried about this girl, and he probably missed her as much as I missed my girl, but he had never experienced something like this. Jacob had never felt the pain of knowing you might never see her again - a piercing agony which suffocated me with such a forceful strength…

***

"What's wrong with him? He's eating like his feet's on fire," Quil laughed my way.

I ignored him.

Okay, so maybe I ate like a pig. I didn't care. The sooner I finished breakfast, the sooner I could get to Port Angeles and look for her.

Quil had also imprinted, but Claire was only six, and Quil was still in some sort of a weird nanny/big brother mode. He couldn't possibly understand.

I _loved_ this girl. I really loved her.

I had to find her!

"Yeah, about that, we got some big news," Jake said with an almost mockingly solemn tone.

The whole pack had come over for breakfast at our house this morning, and we were sitting around the little table stuffing our faces in. Well,_ I_ was stuffing my face in – the others pretty much just ate.

"The dog managed to imprint," Leah explained, her voice close to a snarl.

Yeah, Leah wasn't real happy about the news. She really wanted to imprint too, and was quite sad and angry about the whole thing. She couldn't get children. She thought about it sometimes, when we were in wolf shape, and practically bit our heads off if we felt sorry for her, or if we _didn't_ feel sorry for her, or… I guess she would bite our heads off no matter what we did.

_Girls, huh?_

It was quite uncomfortable actually – hearing deep secrets like that, I mean. Not only my sister's secrets, but the whole pack's secrets. When we phased it was like we were just one person, one mind, with several opinions and personalities, but still one.

Once I had caught Quil thinking about Leah, and… You see, when we phase we rip up our clothes, if we don't take them off, that is, so when we phase back, naturally we're naked… And Leah being the only girl… We'd all had a glimpse – me included! I still had nightmares – and once I caught Quil thinking about it. Huge drama. Werewolves are known to have a slight temper.

But that was ages ago. Before Claire. Now no one really looked that way at Leah anymore. I think she was kind of disappointed about that in a way. I mean, she did give Quil a solid bruise the first time she caught him thinking about her, so I doubt she was into him or anything - we would've known if she were, I guess – but she desperately wanted _someone_ to look at her that way, so it must sort of hurt when everyone else imprinted and more or less ignored her.

"What? Seth imprinted?" Embry cut in with his mouth full of toast. "Who? When?"

"Yesterday. Some girl up in Port Angeles, but she disappeared and…" Jacob's voice trailed off.

"Ah… I see," Quil mumbled. "Sorry, bro. You'll find her. It's _destined_." He grinned and winked at me.

Leah took up her plate of nearly finished scrambled eggs and smashed it into the sink, before she turned around and stomped her way out of the kitchen without another word.

"Jeez, what's her problem?" Quil muttered.

I got up and carefully placed my plate in the sink too. Then I turned to Jake.

"I'm going to go look for her. Maybe she's there today," I said, a hopeful tone making it's way through my husky voice.

"I'll come with you," Jacob offered and got up as well.

The dark pain in my chest was easing up a little by the hope of finding her. Maybe… maybe she would be there. Right in front of the movie theatre, waiting for me.

It was destined.

**I know it's not very long, but I'm working on it. ****And nothing much happened in this chapter, but the next one will be juicy xD**

**And to all you readers out there – oh, yeah, I know you're there! I CAN SEE YOU! Well, no, I can't, but seriously, I could use some reviews, okay? Advice on improvement, peptalk, ideas… Anything.**

**It will inspire me to work faster *blinking innocently***

**Love ya already;)**


	3. Chapter 3 Keys

**Hi! I'm back! Thanks to those of you who reviewed. Started writing this new chapter as soon as I saw them and didn't stop until it was finished, so I'm dedicating it to you**** ;)**

**Anyway, I hope you like it! R&R people (Yep, I'm starting to get the lingo xD)**

**3. KEYS**

We looked for her all day, but we couldn't find her. We hovered in front of the movie theatre for an hour, walked around the main streets, drove through every street we could find, but after six hours Jacob gave up. Billy had said something about burgers at five, and Jake was hungry.

I would've stayed, but Jacob wouldn't let me. He said I needed to eat anyway, and Billy had invited the whole pack.

As it turned out the whole pack included the imprints, so Nessie was there. I should've known. That was why he had been in such a hurry. Well, I couldn't really blame him, now that I knew how this imprinting thing felt. If Jacob longed for Nessie just half as much as I longed for… _her_, I didn't have the heart to keep him from her.

Jake's living room was full of people. Mainly huge, bronze-skinned guys eating like madmen.

Yeah, I know, I know – I'm one to talk.

I found Quil running around in circles with little Claire on his shoulders, screaming of joy. I could see how Quil was filled with happiness for every laugh she made.

"We better get something to eat, Claire-bear," Quil finally said.

"Aw… Do we have to, Quil?" she sighed, pouting her lip.

"I guess we can run a little bit more," Quil said, starting his madly jog again. He gave her anything she wanted. He was spoiling her, no doubt.

It was funny, really, how this imprinting thing worked.

"Paul, put that down!" Emily chastised pointing at Paul who was balancing a vase on his finger, trying to show off to his imprint.

I grinned as the huge Paul – both taller and more heavily built than me – winced and put the vase back on the command of the petite Emily.

Several years ago there had only been one pack, but then we had a huge argument concerning the vamps and split up. We made up soon after, and now we shared the responsibility of looking after the Quileute tribe, but we were still two packs with two different leaders. Sam was the leader for the other pack, while Jacob was ours.

We were still family, though.

"Seth!" Emily exclaimed, as she suddenly caught eye of me. She ran over to me and planted a kiss on my cheek.

Emily was Sam's wife. She was like a mother to us. Back when there was only one pack we used to hang out at their house all the time. We hung out there now too, but not as much as before.

"Hey, Em," I greeted, giving her a thin smile.

Everything seemed to give me a sort of bittersweet feeling now, even happy moments like these where the whole family was together, people were laughing and goofing around… and eating. I just wasn't as happy and carefree as I used to be. There was always this little part of me that worried about _her_. Wondering what she was doing. Longing to see her. Yearning to touch her…

That was imprinting, I guess.

"You okay, Seth?" Emily said, ruffling my hair like I was a little kid.

I smiled at her again. I was at least a head taller than her, and still she made me feel like I was a little boy.

"I'm fine, Em. Just…" I shook my head, not wanting to talk about it. If I started I don't think I would've been able to stop.

She smiled back, the left side of the face hanging a little. She still had three long scars across her face. Claw marks. It had been an accident. Sam had phased and she stood to close.

I shuddered at the thought. It must really hurt to know that you'd injured someone you cared so much about. What if I ever did something like that to my imprint? Could I ever live with myself? Maybe she disappearing was all for the best.

No. I couldn't even make myself think that. I loved this girl, and if I couldn't find her I would go crazy trying.

"Okay. You know you can talk to me about anything, right?" she asked. I nodded obediently. "Good. Now excuse me while I go and make sure they're not burning up the house."

She hurried off to the kitchen where a dangerously dark smoke had erupted.

I walked over to the table grabbing my third burger and bringing it with me to the sofa. I should finish eating, so that I could go back to Port Angeles and look for her again. I knew that if I didn't find her this was how my life would become. I would never be really happy and I would always be running off to Port Angeles hoping this would be the day that I found her, even if the odds were against me.

I could already feel the deep obsession beginning to form inside me.

"You found her yet?" Nessie's musical voice asked, as she sat down on the couch beside me with a burger in her hand – unlike her vampire family she could eat food as well as... blood.

I looked down at her, sighing.

"Jake told you about me imprinting?" I asked, already knowing the answer. Of course Jacob couldn't keep anything from Nessie. Maybe – if I ever found her – I would never be able to keep anything from _my_ imprint either.

"Don't be mad at him," Nessie begged, looking at me with her chocolate brown eyes, tilting her head sideways to use the full extent of her beauty to warm me up.

She really was beautiful. Her skin was pale and smooth, and sparkled slightly in the dull sunlight that shone in through the window – a feature she had inherited from her vampire father, although she didn't sparkle nearly as much as him. Her sparkle wasn't as obvious. Humans barely saw it, and if they did, they ignored it, thinking it was just the light.

Nessie knew she was beautiful, and she knew how to play it too, but somehow I didn't turn into a babbling moron, as I usually would. I wasn't in love with her or anything – it was just how she affected people. Normally. But not today. It was not that her beauty had faded in any way, it was just… She wasn't _her_. Nessie's big brown eyes couldn't even be compared to _her_ green eyes. _Nothing_ could compare to her.

I would never find a girl as interesting as _her_.

Nessie fiddled with her brown hair, smiling innocently at me, waiting for my reply.

"No, I'm not mad at him," I said. "I understand why he felt so compelled to tell you."

"We _are_ best friends," Nessie said, nodding.

"Yeah, and once I imprinted I understood exactly how he – "

"Seth!" Jacob cut me off before I finished my sentence. "Excuse us," he mumbled to Nessie, as he dragged me up from the couch and down the hall, out of her hearing range.

"Nessie doesn't know that I have imprinted on her! Edward would kill me if he heard she'd found out – she's four for God's sake!" Jacob hissed. "And Edward _would_ hear if she found out! He reads minds, _remember_?"

"Sorry, Jake, I was thinking about _her_ and – " I began, but Jacob cut me off again.

"Seth, I'm glad you finally imprinted, and I'm sorry we couldn't find her, but use your brains for once, okay?"

I nodded.

"Okay."

Jacob sighed.

"I'm sorry, but if you'd told Ness… Well, it would be bad," he said. "Now eat up. We're going to take a run around La Push. Routine mission."

"But I was planning on…" I started.

I had to go to Port Angeles. I had to find her.

Jacob looked at me, and he must've understood what was going through my mind, because he sighed and nodded.

"Go," he said.

***

Port Angeles wasn't the most pleasant place at night. Not that I was scared or anything, but the thought of _her_ out here alone…

A deep growl sneaked out through my clenched teeth.

_Okay, relax, Seth. She's fine._

I walked down the street where I'd first seen her, the cool wind brushing against me as I went. I was only wearing jeans and a gray T-shirt, but I wasn't cold. Well, of course I wasn't.

She wasn't there.

My heart sank down in my stomach. This could not be happening! When I finally imprinted the girl disappeared! Of course! Nothing could be easy for me! For once in my life I wished…

I stopped dead in the street, not moving a muscle.

That smell…

That sweet smell of… roses. I recognized it at once. She had smelled like roses. But there was something else as well, something that couldn't be described. Her essence. No one else could smell like that.

It was _her_! I was sure of it! She was here. Well, not _here_, but nearby.

I lounged forward, running before I even had a chance to think about it. My instincts were crying out to find her, and I don't think I could've resisted, even if I wanted to. I loved this girl. I needed this girl.

I ran around the corner, down the block, turning another corner…

I was panting, resisting the urge to get down on all four. It would be so much easier to track her scent in wolf shape – it would be faster too – but Jacob was right. I couldn't just phase in a busy street and risk letting someone see me.

I followed her scent further down the street and rounded another corner, before I skidded to a sudden stop.

Here.

The street was empty.

No one was walking on the sidewalks. No one was looking out through the windows. It was spookily quiet. Even the wind seemed to have stopped, not wanting to get tangled up in this particular street. The full moon shed a silvery light into the street, making it look sort of eerie. Just a couple of yards down the traffic were quickly flushing by, making enough noise to wake up the entire city, but here… Nothing.

There stood a couple of cars parked on the curb and… a red bike.

My heart started beating. It was hers. I knew it. I took two steps closer and closed my eyes. Oh, yes. It was hers. I could smell it.

And then I heard something.

Up until now it had been so quiet that I was almost starting to get worried, and the sound I now heard wasn't really helping. It was the sound of someone running.

Panting, breathing, kicking her feet into the ground, running.

I knew who it was before I could see her, and I felt a wave of panic flush through me. What was she running from?

Then I saw her.

Her blonde hair was dancing behind her, not able to keep up with her. It twisted and turned in the most graceful ways and writhed into new beautiful curls, like it had a life of its own. She was wearing a thin green blouse of some sort of a shiny fabric, and jeans. The moonlight hit her in an almost enchanting way and enhanced her beauty. And her eyes…

Once again I was completely stunned by those heavenly eyes. Sharp green, like emeralds. They were glistening in such a magical way.

I stood there, in the middle of the street, staring at her, feeling my heart grow and heal. It had taken its toll, thinking I would never see her again, even if it was only 24 hours since I first had laid my eyes on her.

But there was something wrong. She was still running like the hellhounds were at her heals, and her expression was one of pure fear.

I could feel a giant knot in my chest, tightening its hold. What was going on?

Halfway down the street she dropped her keys, but she didn't seem to notice, she just kept running towards her bike, with that same frightened expression. She didn't even notice me, as she ran past me.

Her eyes were glued to the red bike, like it was her only hope.

I hurried back up and grabbed her keys. She wouldn't be able to go anywhere without them, and it seemed she might have to go somewhere fast.

She reached her bike and started clapping at all of her pockets, looking for her keys.

"No, no, no, no! Shit!" she chanted to herself, as she started searching the ground.

I would've laughed at the sight, because it was quite funny, but the feeling that she might be in danger quickly sobered me up.

I hurried over to her.

She took a startled jump backwards when she finally noticed me.

"Are you oka – "

She placed her hand over my mouth.

"Shhhh!" she hissed, staring at something behind me with frightened, wide open eyes.

Emerald eyes.

I showed her the keys, and got on the bike without an invitation. If she was in danger I would personally make sure she was okay. And I would _not_ let her disappear again like last time – that was probably the main reason for my rude action.

She got on behind me, mumbling something so quietly that even my sensitive ears couldn't pick it up.

I started the engine and drove off down the street, away from whatever had scared her. I could feel her muscles starting to relax as we drove farther and farther away. Her arms still clung around my waist, holding on tightly so that she wouldn't fall off, but I could hear her heartbeats beating more slowly, and her whole posture was relaxed.

Her blonde curls occasionally blew into my face.

How could something possibly smell so good? She must bathe in roses every morning. And that indescribable part of her scent – her essence – was so alluring I wanted to turn around and kiss her right then and there.

I didn't of course. An act like that would have endangered her life, and probably scared her too, and I could not make myself do anything of the sort.

I silently wondered if imprinting made me attracted to her smell as well. Until now I had focused on her lovely, emerald eyes. They were as burned into my retina. But now I knew that if she ever disappeared again I would miss her smell just as much as I would miss her eyes.

Maybe if I had been blind would I have imprinted on her smell instead…

I couldn't help but grinning widely.

I could stay like this forever. Her arms tightly wrapped around me, her hair dancing around us, her body against mine…

"Pull over!" She was shouting to be heard over the motor.

I turned and found a nearly empty parking lot, where I gunned the engine. She got off first, taking a step away from me and locking her hands over her chest.

I got off too. When I turned around to look at her, I found her staring at me, her eyes narrow and suspicious.

The liquid emeralds had frozen and were now cold and sharp.

"Are you okay?" I asked her, looking at her with worried eyes. She wasn't at all relaxed now. Her muscles were sharp and ready, as if she expected that she would have to run again. Her hands were already balled up into fists.

I really hoped she wouldn't hit me; she would probably break her arm.

She raised an eyebrow.

"Shouldn't I be?" she asked, her voice edgy.

"Um, sure, but earlier, when you were running… You didn't look okay," I explained calmly.

Even her hair seemed more hostile now, lying straight and still down on her back. The curls were less obvious, as if they had straightened out on purpose.

"I'm fine," she said stiffly.

"Are you sure? You looked scared. What were you running from?" I asked, taking a small step toward her.

Most of all I wanted to hold her in my arms. I wanted to protect her, to make her feel safe, but if I as much as hugged her she would get scared and possibly hit me. I was a stranger to her. Not that _she_ wasn't a stranger to me, but I loved her.

I really loved her.

"What was I running from?" she repeated slowly, her eyes gazing at something right in front of her - something I couldn't see. The emeralds in her eyes were melting up. She must've realized that I wished her no harm. "Does it matter?" she finally said, answering my question with another question. She looked up at me, her green eyes meeting mine.

It _did_ matter. It mattered to me. If someone had hurt her – scared her – I would chew them to pieces! I would make them regret that they ever laid their eyes on her!

But she didn't want to tell me what had happened, and did I really want to push it now that she was finally warming up to me?

I shrugged to show her that I had let the subject go.

Maybe she would tell me later, and if she did, I would track them down and…

"What's you name?" I asked her, taking another small step closer to her, trying to seem as harmless as possible.

"Why do you want to know?" she replied, looking defiantly up at me, as if to say that I had to drag the answers out of her if I wanted them.

I couldn't help but letting a small grin pass over my lips.

She was a fighter.

And I loved her.

"Well, I kind of did help you out back there, didn't I?" I asked, smiling down at her.

"You mean right before you kidnapped my bike?" she shoot back, again answering with another question.

I grinned.

"Nevertheless, I did help you out," I asserted.

"Well, thanks, but I can take care of myself," she replied, stroking a strand of golden hair away from her face. I hadn't noticed how long it was before; it reached all the way down to her waist.

"You might need some backup some day," I said, my voice dropping to an even murmur. "Would be helpful if I knew the name of the person I'm looking out for."

She glanced up at me again, the emeralds in her eyes sterner than before.

"I watch my own back." It was a definiteness in that last statement, as if it were some kind of a rule.

She really was a fighter and I loved her for it. But I had no idea what made her that way. I didn't know anything about her, and it was already obvious that she wouldn't let anyone in just like that. She had strong walls built up around both her heart and her mind. She wouldn't let anyone into either.

"Could I get my keys back?" she asked, reaching out her hand for them.

I looked at her, and my heart ached painfully.

Was she leaving? Already? I had just found her! I didn't even know her name! I didn't know how to find her again.

My hand subconsciously closed around the keys, and she scowled at me, emeralds darkening.

"Listen, Indian Boy," she said, her voice hard as if she was bracing herself. "Give me my keys back or I will smash your face in!" she threatened, taking a step towards me and balling her hands into fists.

I took two steps back.

"Wait, wait, wait," I said, showing her my palms.

She lowered her hands with a slightly smug grin.

She thought I was afraid of her. She thought I was backing up because I was afraid. I almost started laughing, but managed to bite my tongue to sober me up.

I wasn't afraid of her – I was only afraid that she might hurt herself. I couldn't bear to let her get hurt in any way.

"Listen, I don't care what you say; I saved your skin back there. The least you can do is telling me you name," I said, making my case. "Then I'll give you your keys back," I added.

Her eyes melted as she considered it, and I knew before she'd even opened her mouth that she would tell me her name.

I was almost amazed at how obvious her feelings were written in her eyes. Her face was in a straight mask most of the time – a strong poker face – but her eyes showed her emotions as strongly as if she were shouting them out.

"Ricky," she finally said.

"Ricky," I repeated, tasting the name for the first time.

Ricky…

What was it short for? Why did she call herself Ricky instead of her real name? _Was _Ricky her real name? Had her parents named her Ricky because they were expecting a boy?

I sighed.

Her name was the only thing I knew about her, and even that was a secret.

I obediently handed over the keys. We had a deal.

She didn't go back to her bike.

"And what about you, Indian Boy?" Ricky asked, her golden hair suddenly dancing carefully in the light breeze. The silvery moonlight fondled it and sent small flickers of gold into the night.

"Um…" I began, staring at her, enchanted by the light.

"Is your name _Um_ or did you forget it?" she asked, a teasing tone making its way into her tough voice.

"It's Seth," I said. "Seth Clearwater. From the Reservation down in Forks - La Push."

She smiled.

It was the first real smile she had given me the whole night. A smile without suspicion, without smugness, without secrets…

"Yeah, I would forget something like that too." She grinned again, and my heart started racing. She was so unbelievably beautiful! Did she even know that? She must've. No one could look so graceful, so lovely without even knowing it.

"So Indian Boy Seth Clearwater from La Push," she said, the corners of her lips turning into a new smile – slightly teasing this time. "Forks, huh? You're a townie?"

I wasn't exactly sure what she meant.

La Push was right outside Forks. Did that make me a… townie?

"I guess," I answered.

Her smile widened, but I still didn't get the joke.

"I should've known," she muttered, as she got onto her bike. My heart started banging in my chest, like it was trying to break its way out – reaching for her. "Well, I'll see you around, Indian Boy. Or probably not," she added, my heart sinking.

"It's Seth," I reminded her.

"I know," she grinned at me, starting the engine and driving off, leaving me alone in the parking lot.

So this was how I would feel every time she was not with me?

_You'll understand once you imprint._

Oh, I understood alright.

Imprinting sucks!

**There you go! Longer, better and he finally found her. But what was she running from? Feel free to guess ;)**

**And as always – reviews please!**


	4. Chapter 4 Car crash

**Hi, everyone. I know, I know, it took me quite some time to update, but… well, I was busy and I somehow managed to fall UP the stairs and hurt my**** hand and my writing slowed down quite a bit.**

**All the Story Alerts kept me going, though – even though you could manage to write a review, huh? It'll take you like two seconds!**

**Anyway – I don't own Twilight or the Twilight characters. **

**4. CAR CRASH**

I loved Ricky's hair. The way it danced in the wind. How beautiful it was, looking like strands of pure gold. The way it curled. The way she kept pushing it away from her face. The way it flushed so perfectly down her back. The way it lay so softly against her face, her perfect features.

I loved her smell. The way she smelled of roses. The other part of her smell, too of course. The part that made me want to kiss her. The part that kept pulling me closer. The part that I dreamt of at night.

I loved her eyes. The way they sparkled like emeralds. The way they showed all her emotions. The way –

"_Okay, we get it! You love her!" _Embry's voice boomed in my head. _"Now please – focus!"_

I frowned.

It was just a routine mission – like Jacob had said. No big deal. We were simply running around the border – well, where the border used to be; Jacob had relaxed the treaty ever since he imprinted on Nessie, so that her family could visit too. So even if we met some vamps it wouldn't be a big deal.

"_Well, there are bad vampires out there and we _could_ stumble upon something important, so snap out of it!"_ Embry said, a growing annoyance blazing through his thoughts.

"_Go easy on the kid. He just met his imprint – of course he's gonna be all _goofy_ in the beginning,_" Quil said, laughing, and capitalizing the word _goofy_ for my benefit.

How long had it been since I'd been going around thinking that about them? A couple of days?

We were all in wolf form – obviously – and we could all hear each other's thoughts. It was something I never really got comfortable with. It was pretty useful when we were fighting vamps – bad vamps, of course, not the good guys – but the rest of the time it was pretty much a pain in the ass.

It wasn't just that they could hear my thoughts, even though that was terribly annoying and quite embarrassing, but I could hear their thought too – even if I didn't want to. I tried to shut them out most of the time – except when we were actually talking to each other… or thinking to each other, anyway – but they were always there, nagging in the back of my head.

"_You're no prize either, Seth,"_ Quil snickered. _"Or should I say Indian Boy?"_

I looked up towards the rising sun and let out a loud howl, before I ran after Quil, who kept laughing wickedly in my head.

"_Cut it out, you two,"_ Jacob said, but he found it quite funny too.

I chased Quil a little bit longer, before I gave up, and found my place in the formation again.

Of course they had all heard and seen everything replayed in my head a thousand times, just like I used to hear every boring little detail about their imprints, just like we'd all heard Jacob replaying his conversation with Nessie just a couple of minutes ago.

_Okay, I gotta go, Jake. Call you later. Love you.__ (Click)_

_Love you. (Click)_

_LOVE YOU. (Click)_

He was still thinking about it, replaying her voice in his head, longing for her just as I longed for Ricky.

_Love you…__ (Click)_

I couldn't understand why he was still going on about it; she said it all the time. She said it every time she hung up on him, every time she had to go after hanging out with him…

"_Just leave it, Seth,"_ Jacob muttered.

Okay, so maybe I did understand. I would probably go on and on about it too if Ricky had said something like that – even if she didn't mean it like that, even if it was just a line.

"_Seth,"_ Jacob repeated, groaning slightly.

"_Leaving it,"_ I said and dropped the subject.

We kept running through the woods, searching for anything out of the ordinary – you know, anything except humans, werewolves and vampires…

Embry found a path that a vampire had walked across, but Jake just took one whiff and assured us it was only Bella.

Jacob was pretty much the expert on distinguishing one vampire smell from another. He spent the most time with vamps, so it was only natural, I guess. To the rest of us they pretty much smelled equally horrible, although even I could tell the Cullens from strangers.

And then finally we were done patrolling and were off to Jacob's for lunch. I was eager to be finished and storm off to Port Angeles again to search for her.

I was pretty sure I could track her smell again. The last time I was with her I had gotten so familiar with her smell that I could find her even if she'd crossed oceans.

"You know, these patrols aren't as necessary anymore. Maybe we could take one patrol a week, instead of one every other day," Quil suggested, as he transformed into his human form and got dressed.

"We never know when bloodsuckers might come our way," Jacob replied. "Better to be safe than sorry."

"Yeah, whatever, let's eat!" I said as I practically ran up to Jake's house. It was only ten in the morning, but I couldn't stand being away from her anymore. I had to go find her.

***

The drive to Port Angeles seemed longer than it used to be, even if I drove faster than what I was supposed to. My mom would kill me if she'd seen me drive this fast, but I figured that even if I crashed I would heal in a couple of weeks anyway, and if it meant that I got to see Ricky faster it was worth it.

When I finally got to Port Angeles I parked my car on the curb where her bike had been the last time and stepped out.

The street was empty, but that didn't discourage me. I had found her the last time, and I would find her again. This time it wouldn't even be that hard; I could already smell the sweet smell of roses.

I sucked in another breath through my nose and my heart started pounding as I recognized her smell and figured out what direction she had gone.

She couldn't be far away. I could tell by her smell that she'd been here only minutes ago.

Again I felt an urge to phase – my senses were much stronger in wolf shape – but resisted it. Instead I started walking down the street. Her smell got stronger and I couldn't help but smiling as I turned the corner.

It was definitely strong now.

And suddenly it was gone. I stopped and looked around me. She wasn't there.

No one was for that matter, so no one looked at me strangely as I bent down to the concrete and smelled it. Her smell got stronger towards the… wall.

She had climbed up the wall!

I straightened up and let my eyes follow the path of her smell. A foot in that window, a hand on that brick… Suddenly I noticed an open window on the third floor and stared at it for a while.

Had she gone in there? Why would she go in there? If she lived there she could've just used the door, and if she didn't live there she definitely shouldn't go in through the window.

As I stared at the gaping window the curtains suddenly moved and someone climbed onto the windowsill.

My heart fluttered in my chest as I recognized her.

It was Ricky!

Her long, blonde hair spilled out through the window like a fountain and as the sun hit it, it sparkled with gold. She had a look of deep concentration in her face as she placed one hand on the windowsill ready to climb back out and one hand grasping around something pressed to her chest.

She stuck one foot out the window, searching for something to step on.

"Are you crazy?!" I howled, with my heart in my throat. "You're going to fall!"

She took a startled step sideways and fell!

I couldn't breathe!

She was going to get hurt and it was all my fault! If I hadn't howled at her, she wouldn't have fallen!

I took two steps back, trying to get in the right angle to catch her. I held out my hands as she came closer, and then… I caught her.

There was an electric feeling as I touched her and hugged her into my chest. Her blonde hair poured over my shoulders, down over my hands and between my fingers like liquid silk.

I took a couple of deep breaths while I stood there, cradling her body in my arms.

She was leaning her head against my chest, eyes closed, and sipped in air in shivering breaths. Her hand was still clenching on to something so hard that the knuckles on her fist whitened.

She was so damn beautiful!

"Are you okay?" I breathed, my voice barely a whisper.

She opened her eyes in a flash and looked up at me with her intense, emerald eyes. Her hand tightened around whatever it was she was holding.

"Are you stalking me?" she asked, her voice sharp and emeralds darkening slightly.

I grinned.

She was utterly incapable of answering any question with something other than another question.

"No," I said, trying not to laugh. "I… Of course not. I just saw you falling out of that window and figured your fall might hurt a little less if I caught you," I quickly lied.

I wasn't really stalking her… was I?

She stared at me, trying to figure put if she should press the matter or let it go. Her green eyes studied my face and steadily warmed up.

I think she decided to let it go.

"Would you put me down now?" she asked, still with a slightly sharp tone in her lovely voice.

I lowered her feet to the ground, but didn't let go of her until I was sure she'd found her balance. As soon as she was out of my arms they started aching, like they were supposed to keep holding her – like that was what they'd been created for.

"Told you you might need some backup," I said as I finally let go, reluctantly forcing my hands down to my sides.

Her head snapped up to look at me, and her eyes slowly froze to ice.

"And I told you I watch my own back," she replied, again with that stern voice, like she was trying to convince herself just as much as she was trying to convince me.

I took half a step back and looked at her.

She was wearing dark jeans, a grey tank top, and a leather jacket – nothing like the light green top she'd been wearing the day before. She had black ankle high boots too. It suited her. It just sort of fit her personality. She was tough – or that was what she wanted people to think, anyway. But I still liked the light green top better – the soft side of her.

She glanced at me with her emerald eyes, a long, wondering glance before she turned and started to walk away.

"Hey, wait up!" I said, and hurried after her. It wasn't hard to keep up; her body was so small and petite – nothing against my massive body and long strides.

I walked beside her for a while, not sure what to say.

"Indian boy, right?" she suddenly asked, a small smirk playing in the corners of her mouth.

"It's Seth," I said.

"Right," she mumbled and placed whatever had been in her right hand over in her left, so that it was out of my reach.

"Did you just steal that?" I asked, nodding towards it. I couldn't really make out what it was; it was wrapped in a handkerchief. But whatever it was it couldn't be bigger than her palm.

She stopped walking and turned to look at me.

God, she was beautiful! Her golden hair was curly again, moving slightly in the careful breeze.

She smiled her wicked smile at me – a smile so far from an innocent smile as humanly possible. It was a sort of knowing, playful smile – not a real one like the one I had gotten the other day.

She didn't say anything, just stepped closer, until we were only inches apart. I could feel her breath against my neck, and it sent shivers down my spine. She looked up at me, her emerald eyes melting. My heart pounded in my chest, as if it was trying to beat its way out. I could smell the roses now…

"Are you going to tell on me?" she asked, her voice smooth as silk.

I swallowed hard.

Of course I wouldn't tell on her. I would never do anything to get her in trouble.

"I… No, I'm not gonna… I won't te – "

She grinned and stepped back.

"Good."

She started walking again.

It took me a couple of seconds to recover from her sudden closeness, but then I came running after her.

"So you _did_ steal it?" I asked, not giving up that easily. That would explain it – why she had climbed up a wall and in a window.

"What do you care?" she asked back without meeting my eyes.

I hid my grin.

"Do you always answer questions with another question?" I asked her, a playful tone slipping into my voice.

A smile made its way over her lips, and she glanced at me sideways.

"Does it bother you?" she replied, her hair dancing and curling playfully around her.

"Is that a yes?" I challenged, smiling wholeheartedly.

I loved her. Her looks, her voice, her smell, all her quirks, like the way she touched her hair and the way she never answered me… I loved her.

"What do you think?" she shot back, capturing one of the wild strands of hair and curling it subconsciously around her finger.

"Would you stop?" I laughed.

"Or what?" she challenged, walking faster as we turned into one of the more busy streets. Cars drove by us in high speed and I suddenly found myself worrying about her. If she took one wrong step she could fall into the road and get killed!

"Do I really have to tell you?" I asked, trying to keep it light and teasing as I subtly walked over to her other side, so that I was between her and the dangerously fast cars.

"Should I start guessing?" she replied.

"Does that mean you're giving up?" I kept going, even though I was too distracted by all the sudden dangers around us to really pay attention.

"Does it sound like I'm giving up?" Ricky asked, turning towards me and staring into my eyes again. Her eyes were challenging and stubborn even though, the liquid emeralds still proved her amusement.

I stared back, trying to stare her down.

"I give up," I finally said.

She smirked.

"Good choice."

She laughed and her laugh was so beautiful that for a second I am sure the world stopped moving.

And then she screamed.

The sound of her scream was like hearing crystal breaking into tiny pieces – so enchantingly beautiful and so alarming it made my heart feel as heavy as led. My heart sunk in my chest, making it hard to breathe. Was she hurt?!

Fear was running through my body, poisoning my veins as I grabbed a hold of her and pulled her into my protective arms.

"What?! What is it?!" I asked her, my heart beating so hard it was hard for me to hear anything but my own heartbeats.

"Get it away! Get it away from me!" she shouted, clinging to me in terror.

My eyes flickered up and down the street, searching for what horrible thing she was talking about.

And then I found it.

In front of us was a man, walking his dog. It was huge dog, but it was on a leach, and it didn't look especially aggressive.

I glanced back at Ricky who was still clinging to me and started laughing.

"That was what you were screaming about?" I asked her, nodding towards the dog.

"Yes!" she wailed. Her golden hair lay around her like a cape, protecting her for that innocent little mutt.

If she even knew how ironic this was…

"There, it's gone," I told her as it turned the corner with its owner.

Ricky peeked up from my shoulder and sighed.

"I hate dogs!" she muttered herself as she freed herself from my grasp. I reluctantly let her go, even though I would much rather keep here there, safe from everything.

She seemed embarrassed over her reaction.

"Why?" I asked her, grinning slightly at the whole thing.

She was afraid of dogs. Dogs!

"They remind me too much about wolves," she answered, muttering again like she was talking to herself not me.

I froze.

"Oh." I didn't find it amusing anymore.

The girl I loved was afraid of wolves. And I was a werewolf – that must be much worse in her eyes.

My dark fate unravelled in front of me.

If she knew what I was she would be scared. She would run.

I longed for her every second I was away from her and if she did not wish to see me I would do everything in my power to make her change her mind.

But if she _told me_ to stay away she might as well stab me to death, because I could not live without her. I would never do anything that was against her will, but if I could never see the love of my life again – even at a distance to make sure she was all right… I would die.

She was afraid of wolves…

How could this ever work out? Maybe… Maybe I just wouldn't tell her. I could keep it a secret. Forever. Or maybe just until she trusted me and then… then I would wreck her world and tell her that the person she trusted had lied to her?

"See, wolves are scary," she said, looking up at me.

She must've seen my horrified expression and interpreted it all wrong.

I nodded silently.

She started walking again and in a blink of an eye I was at her side again.

All right, so she was afraid of wolves. Who cared? Right now I would just focus on getting to know her, and when the time came for telling her what I was… I would deal with it then.

"So did you steal it?" I asked, smiling the best I could.

She looked up at me and shook her head dejectedly, so that her golden hair spread out like a fan around her.

"You're just not giving up, are you?" she laughed at me.

I loved that laugh. I loved it with all of my heart.

"And you're just not capable of giving a straight answer," I said. "I won't tell on you if you did steal it, I just want to know."

The emeralds were sterner than before when she looked up at me, shaking her head again, making her curly hair brush against my arm. That simple touch sent my heart flying up into my throat.

"You wouldn't understand," she said, her voice low and careful.

I stepped closer.

"Try me."

She looked up at me, emeralds cold.

"You're from Forks," she said shortly.

"Actually, La Push is right outside of Forks," I corrected her.

"Whatever. You're from a place where you know everyone, trust everyone, leaves your doors unlocked, leaves your car keys on top of your tires… You're a naïve, small town guy. It's nothing wrong with that, but you don't understand how it's like in the big city," she told me as she transformed her slow strolling to an even trot.

"Port Angeles isn't that big," I objected.

"I agree. I used to live in New York, and compared to that this is peanuts. But for you this is huge, huh?" There was a condescending tone in her voice now, and she kept her eyes in front of her as she hurried down the street.

"Its not hu –" I started, but she bit me off.

"Get over it, townie."

I rolled my eyes.

"I almost think I prefer Indian Boy," I muttered.

She ignored me.

"It's like you still believe in magic and fairytales and… love," she muttered, almost angrily.

I grabbed her by the shoulders to stop her frenetic walking and turned her toward me, so that I could look into her emerald eyes. Somehow they didn't seem as green anymore. They were turning blue.

"You don't believe in love?" I asked her.

She smiled a cynical smile.

"I believe in things I can see, touch or feel. I've never seen someone in love. Marriages break up, parents abandon their children… What love are you talking about, really?"

"There is still love," I told her, letting go of her shoulders.

_I love you._

She smiled her cynical smile again.

I didn't like it. It was so wrong for her beautiful face – didn't fit her at all.

"Maybe there is in small towns where the parents still marry their children off to their best friends and divorce is a sin, but not here in the real world," she said, straightening up, and looking away.

"That's unfair," I said.

Her head snapped back, emeralds glistening perilously.

"Listen, Indian Boy. Life's unfair... It's also pretty short, so suck it up, have fun and deal with it!"

As on a cue a bus stopped in front of us and Ricky got on. I stared after her, but didn't walk in. I took the death glare I had gotten as a message that she needed to be alone right now, and the blue in her eyes was still there; The blue that made me want to comfort her – wipe her tears.

"Where's you bike?" I asked as it occurred to me that she shouldn't have to take the bus. "Is it broken?"

She looked out through the open bus door. Her eyes were nearly completely blue now.

"What are you going to do about it?" she asked, leaving me with one last question, but absolutely no answers. Then the doors closed and the bus drove off, and I was left alone on the curb.

I sank down to sitting position.

The girl I loved didn't trust anyone – and I wanted her to trust me.

The girl I loved was afraid of wolves – and I was a werewolf.

The girl I loved didn't believe in love – and I loved her.

But I didn't care, because I_ loved _her.

It would work out.

It always did.

***

I kept tracking her, but didn't let her see me; I had done enough damage for one day, and she would probably freak out if I kept turning up wherever she was.

I was stalking her, I suddenly realized and frowned as I added one more thing to my list:

The girl I loved thought I was stalking her – and I was.

I tried my best to ignore that thought as I followed her scent back towards the place where she'd fallen out the window. Why would she go back there? Maybe all my talk about stealing had gotten to her and she wanted to return whatever it was she had taken… Or maybe she was going back for more.

I tried to figure out how to convince her that I loved her – or how to convince her that love existed at all – but it wasn't that easy.

Maybe I could invite her with me to La Push so that she could see how much Jacob loved Nessie, and Quil loved Claire, and…

Well, the Quil and Claire thing would probably freak her out, seeing that Claire was six. But Nessie and Jake… Well, to introduce her to a half vampire really wasn't my first choice.

Well, what about Sam and Emily? Or Jared and Kim? Or…

Suddenly I saw her.

Ricky was standing a cross the road from me, watching the cars fly by and waiting for the light to turn green.

Her hair was dancing in the wind, sparkling with gold. Her eyes were green – emeralds once again, and she was smiling slightly, as if she was thinking about something nice.

Then she stepped out into the road as the light suddenly turned green.

She never even saw the car coming.

A bright red jeep was roaring down the street and must've missed the moment when the lights switched. It was speeding and I could see it wouldn't have time to stop!

The crowd around us had also seen the danger and someone shouted out in terror. Ricky turned her head as in slow motion to look at me – and as it turned out I was the one shouting the loudest. The emeralds in her eyes were still melted and warm when they met mine and saw the absolute horror in them. She tilted her head to the left, wondering what was wrong with me I suppose, and then she turned to look at what I was staring so wildly at.

I could see the emeralds freezing to ice and her lips parting, a she drew a shivering breath, but she never got time to scream.

I had been frozen to the spot of pure fear, but now something exploded inside of me! I could not let her die!

I stormed out into the middle of the road, grasping for Ricky as I felt the car crashing into me! There was a sickening crack and I practically threw Ricky out of the way, while I got thrown backwards, crashing over the hood of the car, into the windshield and over the roof.

I landed on the ground with another sickening crack and then everything was very quiet. Spookily quiet, actually. Maybe I had hit my head so hard I had become deaf…

I just lay there for a while, expecting some sort of pain, but it didn't come. It was weird. Maybe I hadn't gotten hurt after all. Or maybe I had simply died. I wouldn't mind. Not much. If I had died while saving Ricky's life it was worth it. My only fear was that if I was dead I might not see Ricky again and that she might have been hurt in the fall – I had pushed her pretty hard.

I slowly lifted my head hoping to see her one last time. The world was spinning around me, spookily quiet and calming.

But suddenly everything came crashing upon me.

The noise hit me like a fist in the gut and sent my head crashing into the concrete again. There was running, and screaming, and pain – endless amounts of pain!

The whole left side of my body was pulsing with it, puking out blood from a huge gush on my upper left arm! I was pretty sure it was broken – well, not only broken, but broken and sliced open, leaving an open hole of flesh and blood.

I had opened my eyes now and was staring around me in shock, letting the intense pain cut through me, over and over. The rest of my body was numb – it was impossible to feel anything but the pulsing pain!

People ran into the street and someone was screaming loudly on the phone, probably calling 911.

It wasn't that bad, really. The pain had surprised me, that's all. I slowly lifted my head up from the ground again and tried to move my feet and my arms. Everything seemed to be working. Well, not my left arm, but that I already knew.

Slowly I got to my feet, only to be attacked by practically crazy people, trying to push me back down and telling me to lay still.

Obviously they didn't know much about werewolves. We heal fast – not so fast that I was already healed, but in a week or so I would be good as new.

I got up again and made my way through the crowd, holding my left arm in a tight grasp. It hurt like hell to move – I must've broken a rip as well – but I had to get out of here; I didn't want to be sent to some sort of a hospital where they would take tests and figure out God knows what about my freakish genes.

Some of the people in the crowd tried to stop me, but I simply pushed them out of the way and continued down the street.

"You're hurt."

I stopped dead in the street as I hear her voice. My whole body seemed to recover from the crash just by hearing her voice.

I turned to look at her.

Ricky looked at my arm with a grave expression.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

She chuckled – it was a cynical chuckle, but it still sent butterflies the size of elephants through me.

"Me?" she said, surprised. It must be a habit – this answering a question with another question. "It's you I'm worried about."

"I'll be fine. It's just bleeding a little," I said, comforting her.

"A little?" she repeated. She walked over to me, throwing a glance back towards the crazy crowd in the street who seemed to be looking for me. The ambulance had arrived, but the injured one was nowhere to be seen. The totalled car was there, though, and the unharmed driver.

"Don't," I said, as I understood that she was considering getting their attention.

Ricky looked at me again, and then nodded.

She laid a hand on my shoulder and bent closer to examine the wound.

I grimaced violently, but clenched my teeth together so that I wouldn't scream out in pain. She pulled up the handkerchief from earlier and tied it tightly over the gush.

The handkerchief's contents were gone.

"How do you do that?" she demanded, looking up at me. The sparkle from her emerald eyes hit me like torches.

What did that mean? When they sparkled? It wasn't a cold sparkle, but it wasn't exactly warm and melting either.

"Do what?" I asked, staring back, unable to be the first to look away. I could look into her eyes forever.

She leaned closer, not breaking the eye contact.

"How do you keep showing up like this?" she clarified.

_Oh, I just track__ed your smell._

"What do you mean?" I said, pretending not to understand what she was talking about.

She exhaled sharply and looked down at her feet to collect her mind. When she looked up again her eyes were melting – even her face softened.

"You keep showing up exactly when I…"

_n__eed you._

She didn't finish her sentence, but my heart swelled with warmth anyway. That was what she was about to say! I was sure of it!

She bit her lip, and her face hardened again, slipping into her straight mask – the perfect poker face. Her eyes on the other hand remained melted and warm.

"You keep showing up exactly at the right time," she said, brushing locks of blonde hair off her shoulders and onto her back.

"Exactly when you need me," I corrected her in a low voice, stepping closer.

She looked at her feet again, breathing sharply in and out.

I could feel the electricity in the air, and my arms ached to hold her again. My heart was pounding harder than before. I wanted to kiss her, but not before she met my eyes again, and I could interpret her emerald gaze. I could not stand it if she got upset with me.

Finally she looked up.

Her emerald eyes were still melting and beautiful, but there was something different… they weren't as green as they had been a couple of seconds ago. They were… bluer.

"I don't need anyone," she replied. There was a wistful tone in her voice that made my hands ache to grab a hold of her and hold her close. "We should get you to the emergency room," she suddenly said.

"No!" I exclaimed. I flashed her a thin smile. "No, I'll be fine. My friends are going to pick me up soon and… my… um… uncle is a doctor so…"

Ricky leaned closer, her emerald eyes researching.

"Who are you Indian Boy Seth Clearwater from La Push in Forks?"

I shrugged.

"Who knows," I replied dully.

She smiled.

"Who knows," she repeated. She turned to leave, but turned back to face me before she did.

"Um… I… Thank you… Indian Boy."

**Okay, so I dunno… How was it? Kind of… shifting? Well, the next one will be better.**

**And come on, people! REVIEW!**

**Thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter by the way;)**

**Love ya!**


	5. Chapter 5 Blood and roses

**Hello people!**

**No, I haven't given up on this story, I've just been very busy, but I finally finished another chapter and the next update will be faster… I think xD**

**Thank you so much for all the Story Alerts, the comments and to those of you who added this as a favourite story. Keep it up! ;)**

**Anyway – Read and Review!**

**5. BLOOD AND ROSES**

Jacob picked me up an hour later, and basically just shouted at me for ten minutes – as a good pack leader should, I suppose, when someone in his pack did something idiotic – not letting me say a word as I got into his car and he started driving home. Obviously I was in no shape to drive my own car, so we left it.

After he was done shouting Jake turned to me.

"So?" he prompted.

"What?" I asked.

"How did it go? You found her? Talked to her? And why did you jump in front of a speeding car?" He rolled his eyes, but I could see he had calmed down and wasn't going to shout at me again.

He only knew the small details I had given him over the phone, so naturally he was curious.

"Um, yes, I found her, I talked to her – turns out she hates me because I'm from a small town – "

"I'm sure she doesn't hate you," Jake cut me off, keeping his eyes at the road. I knew he only said it to make me feel better; he couldn't possibly know if she hated me or not. What he did know was how excruciating this would be for me if she actually _did_ hate me.

"Well, I don't know. She kind of bit my head off when I asked if she stole something," I explained, hanging my head.

"Well, maybe she got offended," Jake offered.

I shrugged.

"Maybe…" I granted, still not convinced. "She said I didn't understand anything because I was from a small town," I said, turning to look at Jacob – maybe he'd understand her weird behaviour.

"Well, it sounds to me like…" Jake's eyes flickered over at me. "… she might have stolen something because she really needed it, and feels bad about it. Maybe she feels like you're judging her. I don't know. Some people just have a hard time letting people in. Keep trying, Seth. She'll open up to you soon enough."

"I hope so. Sometimes I wish I could read her thoughts – like Edward, you know?" I said, leaning back into my seat and flinching as daggers of pain shot through my ribs.

"You and me both," Jacob muttered. "Now what possessed you to run into the street and get hit by a car? Your senses would have warned you even if love made you blind."

"But Ricky's senses wouldn't," I answered silently.

"Oh God! Is she okay?" he asked, turning to me again.

"Yeah, I pushed her out of the way," I said. "She gave me this," I added proudly, showing off the handkerchief wrapped around my arm. It was already soaked in blood.

"Ah, so that's what's smelling so good? It smells like… blood and roses," Jake said, sniffing the air.

A possessive growl descended from my chest – as if to say _Don't smell my girl!_ – and Jacob grinned. "Let's just focus on getting you to the Cullens. Carlisle will take a look at you. He'll know what to do," he said and turned back to the road.

***

Carlisle did know what to do.

I had broken my arm on two places, so I would have to wear a stupid, annoying cast for a couple of weeks, and one of my ribs had a mildly fracture – that would heal after a couple of days, or so Carlisle thought. He was highly fascinated by how fast the cut on my arm had healed and kept writing notes as he examined me.

"What's going on? It reeks in here!" Rosalie's nagging voice suddenly exclaimed as she soundlessly appeared in the living room, where I stood only covered with a pair of boxer shorts.

She was stunningly beautiful, as always, and horribly annoying, as always.

I blushed slightly and covered myself with a towel Carlisle had used to wash the blood away from my wound – which was now a new scar.

She rolled her eyes.

"Don't flatter yourself. I'd rather gauge my eyes out with a spoon than to look at you," she said, her voice poisonous. "Do we really have to adopt the whole damn pack?" she muttered Carlisle's way.

Jacob who was sitting in the couch together with Emmet, made a face at her.

"Go eat garlic," he smiled sweetly at her.

Rosalie's eyes narrowed to an even glare and she turned around and walked in human speed into the kitchen where Esme and Bella were trying to bake cookies. Trying – not succeeding.

The lovely cookie smell was mixed with the harsh smell of vampires, but then again, maybe Nessie wouldn't mind, and Jacob was so used to their smell by now that he might eat some too. All I knew was that my stomach twisted at the mere thought of it.

Suddenly Edward appeared in the doorway glancing in at us. He didn't look a day over seventeen. He was much older of course.

"Ah, Jacob – I thought I smelled a rotten dog," he said, smiling playfully.

"Be nice!" Bella commanded from the kitchen.

Edward chuckled.

"Nessie, dear? Jacob's here," he called up the stairs. Then he nodded my way, threw a quick glance at the bloody towel, as he wrinkled his nose and all but floated into the kitchen.

I buried my head in my hands – well, _hand_. My left hand was already wound tight into a cast and more or less useless.

This was so embarrassing!

Did the whole coven really need to see me in my underwear?!

"Em, get up. Maybe Seth would like some privacy," Edward called from the kitchen. He had read my mind, no doubt.

I sent him a thankful thought, but to be honest I didn't really mind Emmet being there; he was too busy watching the sports channel to even notice I was there.

"Never mind," Edward called to Emmet again as he read the new development in my thoughts.

Emmet grunted a response, but I don't think he'd anything of what Edward said.

Edward's powers were pretty useful whenever someone needed to say something to Edward and didn't want the whole room to hear it, but it was sort of embarrassing too, knowing that whatever you were thinking he knew it – and not just when I was in wolf form, but _all the time_. If I didn't like Edward so much I would probably avoid him.

In the kitchen I heard Edward chuckle in response.

"What?" Bella's beautiful voice asked.

"Nothing," Edward answered her, and by the sound of it, planted a kiss on her lips.

Next thing I knew Nessie came running into the room, flying into Jake's open arms.

"Hi, Jake!" she shouted and laughed as he swung her around.

It was hard to think that Nessie was only four. Not only did she look a lot older, but she was also a lot older mentally. I guess it was because of her vampire gens – she was probably smarter than the whole lot of us.

"Put me down!" she howled, screaming of laughter.

Jake did as she said and smiled happily at her.

"Hi, Nes," he said. "I just stopped by to get him fixed," he said, nodding towards me.

Nessie turned around to look at me, and grinned widely when she saw me standing there practically naked, covered by a small, bloody towel.

I scowled at Jake and Nessie laughed.

"Yum," she said, licking her lips playfully.

I blushed and hid the towel behind my back – I didn't want to tempt her.

"I wasn't talking about the blood, Seth," she said, grinning at me, as she looked me up and down, making me blush even more. "Never knew you had such muscles, Seth… What's up with the cast?"

"He broke his hand, that's what," Jake cut in, scowling in my direction. He was jealous – of course he was.

"Can I please put my clothes back on now?" I pleaded, turning towards Carlisle. Carlisle nodded absentmindedly, and I grabbed my clothes with my free hand and tried my best to get dressed.

"Oh, that's right – you imprinted. You know, a week ago you would've been drooling on our carpet," Nessie said, walking over to me and helping me get put pants on.

"Who would've blamed him? You're so damn gorgeous," Jacob said, his eyes suddenly longing.

Edward appeared in the kitchen doorway, sending Jacob a silent warning.

Nessie didn't notice, she just laughed, and smiled up at Jake.

"You gotta say that – you're my best friend," she said, brushing the compliment away with a roll of her eyes.

"Yep… _Friend_," Jacob said, taking a small step backwards and sighing silently. Edward was still staring at them – reading Jacob's mind probably, and frowning ever so slightly over what he was hearing.

The vampires all had it down – that whole minimizing all their expressions, putting on a blank mask… like Ricky. But they didn't have Ricky's eyes. No one had that kind of sharp green, emerald eyes that blurted out the truth even how well her face hid it.

The Cullens all had golden brown eyes – well, except when they were hungry, then their eyes turned black. And then it was Nessie of course. Nessie's eyes were brown, although even they had small flickers of gold in them.

Trust me – I had seen her eyes in Jake's mind a thousand times! Seriously, Jacob thought about Nessie a whole lot more than necessary. She was constantly on his mind!

Edward frowned again, this time his gaze directed towards me.

I grimaced.

Great. I would pay for than one later, if Jacob heard about it.

"The cookies are ready!" Bella announced.

My stomach twisted again.

Cookies tasting like vampires… Yum…

Nevertheless I let myself be dragged into the kitchen by Nessie who seemed overjoyed with the fact that there were newly baked cookies on the counter.

To my surprise Emmet also followed, even though he didn't eat normal food and would have hated the taste of those cookies even if they hadn't tasted like vampire.

"And for the vampires there is pig's blood on the menu," Esme added and set nine bottles on the table.

I took a step back.

"Is that really...?" I began, wrinkling my nose at the thought.

"What? Would you prefer _wolf_ blood?" Rosalie challenged, flashing me a wide smile and showing off all of her glistening white teeth. I took an involuntarily step back, and she smirked.

"Pull in the claws, kitty cat," Emmet mumbled, grinning as he grabbed her around the waist.

"Is that… safe?" I asked, knowing how vampires transformed into lethal killing machines when they hunted.

"Oh, of course. It is perfectly safe," Carlisle told us. "If there were humans around it wouldn't be such a good idea to feed in this manner – we would probably lose control and attack, but you guys will be alright."

"No offence, but I wouldn't eat you, stinking dogs, even if I got paid for it," Emmet said, winking playfully at us.

"Emmet!" Esme sent him a sour look, and I almost laughed - she was upset that Emmet had said that he _wouldn't_ eat us.

Emmet kept grinning.

"I said_ no _offense."

Esme gave him one last scowl before she turned to us.

"We don't usually dine this way, but Nessie prefers eating at the table instead of hunting, so…" Her voice trailed off as she smiled at Nessie, eyes smouldering with love. I didn't know much about Esme's life before she became a vampire, but Jake had told me once – well, actually he had been thinking about it once when we were patrolling – and I thought I remembered something about her losing a child.

"Yes, we really are spoiling her," Edward agreed, bending down and kissing Nessie's cheek.

"Dad," she whined and wiped her cheek with her hand, but she was grinning widely anyway.

"Well, she _is_ the baby in the family," Carlisle smiled, placing his hand on her shoulder.

Esme placed the tray of cookies on the table and smiled up at us.

"Let's eat," she said.

We sat down around the table and the smell of vampire increased. It mixed with the strong smell of pig's blood and the almost human smell of Nessie, and made me sick. I couldn't eat anything now! I would vomit!

I actually wished my senses were weaker – especially my sense of smell!

Edward looked at me and let out a crooked smile.

"Bon appetite," he said.

I scowled at him and looked at the tray of cookies and the bottles of blood with a sceptic look.

"Where's the rest of the bloodsuckers?" Jake asked as he grabbed a cookie and shoved it into his mouth.

"You called?" Alice chimed, and walked into the kitchen, her voice high in the clearest, most musical tone. She looked like the most graceful dancer the way she walked into the room in her small, tasteful blue dress, doing a little spin in front of Bella.

Bella grinned in response.

"You were right – you really do look stunning in that dress," Bella said. She looked over at me and Jake and added: "Alice had a vision in the store. Who needs changing rooms?"

Jasper had followed Alice in, almost watchful as he took in our feelings. His eyes hovered at me for second longer than the others and suddenly I felt a subtle relief of my nervousness and suddenly I didn't think I would vomit after all.

And I didn't.

But once we had finished eating and watching the vamps (including Nessie) slurp blood down their throats with a nearly obsessed look on their faces I was ready to leave. I respected the Cullens and all, but I would never get comfortable with looking at them while they feeded.

I had to _drag_ Jake out the door, and he wouldn't take his eyes off of Nessie the whole time, but once we were outside he sighed and walked to the car on his own.

He helped me into the passenger seat before he hurried inside himself and started the engine.

"Why don't you tell her?" I blurted out as we pulled out of the driveway.

Jacob looked over at me and sighed. He knew what I was talking about.

"Imprinting is not that simple when you imprint on someone much younger than you," he said. "That's why we came up with that rule: Don't tell them before their eighteenth birthday."

"That was mostly for Quil's sake," I retorted.

"I know, but I wouldn't really be setting a good example if I told Nessie when she was four years old now would I?" Jacob said, shaking his head in distress.

"But she's not four – I mean, not in mental or physical age," I objected.

"But she is four in years… and Bella and Edward wouldn't want me telling her anyway. Maybe I won't have to wait until she's eighteen, but at least a little longer. I mean, come on, Edward treats her like she's just a kid. He's about to rip out my throat every time I even think about kissing her on the cheek."

He turned back to the road and by the sound of it the conversation was over.

He drove all the way over to my house. When we got there the rest of the pack were already there.

Oh, right – I'd almost forgotten. We were supposed to be patrolling – routine mission, as always.

"What took you so long?!" Leah snapped as we walked in the door. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared daggers at us. "You insist on us being here early and then you don't even bother to show up yourself," she said, directing her glare at Jacob. "I don't even know why you have the _privilege_ of being our – "

"Easy, Leah," Quil stopped her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Leah shrugged him off and took a step forward.

"No, I want to hear this. Why couldn't you come at the time we'd decided, Jake? Why?" She was standing dangerously near Jacob now, her face close to his, like she was going to kiss him – only she was steaming with anger and spitefulness, so I highly doubted that was what she was planning to do.

"Well, Leah," Jacob answered calmly, taking one step back and looking at me. "I had to help out your baby brother here. He managed to throw himself out in front of a speeding car."

Everyone's eyes zoomed in on me.

"You did _what_?!" Leah shouted, taking two long strides so that she was standing right in front of me instead, staring wildly at me. "You idiot!"

I flinched as she started shouting into my ear.

Leah hated both imprints and those of us who had imprinted, which was now all of us. Except her. We all knew why she hated it so much – she'd been Sam's girlfriend. Before all of this. Before werewolves and imprinting… Before Emily. And she still loved him.

"Good thing mom is sleeping over at Charlie's or she'd kill you!" Leah ranted, smashing her fist into the wall, making a huge hole, spraying me with splinters.

I highly doubted that. Mom wasn't the killing type – Leah was. Actually, I was pretty sure our mom would be angrier when she saw the hole in the wall. I didn't mention that, though. Leah was good at keeping her cool – well, not really, but she was good at getting angry without bursting into fur and fangs. She was training very hard, always bottling things up, because once she'd learned how to control it, she would stop phasing and start aging again. Become normal. But even she had limits and this was not the time to push her.

Jacob told all of them what had happened, while I sat down and stared at my feet. I knew they would understand, but I also knew this was hurting Leah, and, well… she might be a bitch sometimes, but she was my sister nevertheless.

"So, I think we've waited long enough. Let's go patrolling before the sun rises again," Jacob said. "Seth, you just take it easy, okay?"

"What?!" Leah exploded, getting up from the chair she'd been confined to. "He does something unbelievably stupid, and thereby gets the day off?!"

Jacob sighed.

"What do you suggest, Leah? He'll slow us down if he comes with us – it will take a couple of hours more than usual," he said. "You guys up for that?"

They all grumbled a no, well, except Leah, who just glared at me.

This must've really pissed her off. Well, I'd imprinted before her, and now she was the only one left, so I guess it really did. The fact that I had broken my arm was just an excuse to take out some of her anger on me.

"Whatever," she finally muttered, and turned her back at me. Embry grimaced at her when she wasn't looking and I almost laughed. Almost.

Jake waved me goodbye and they all headed towards the door.

"I might take a short trip to Port Angeles again – to see if Ricky's all right," I said to their retrieving backs.

"Oh come on!" Leah groaned and twirled around to face me.

Great, I'd set her off again.

"I don't know a whole lot about this girl, but when someone pushes you in front of a speeding bus it usually means they need some privacy," she told me.

"She didn't push me," I told her, clenching my teeth together so that I wouldn't yell. Leah was just hurt and needed to blow off some steam. Nothing to get agitated about.

"What then? She tripped you?" she hissed her face close up in mine. "I can't blame her, the way you've been _stalking_ her!"

"I'm not stalki –"

"Then what do you call it? Following her around, staring at her like a madman, fantasising about her…" Leah's face twisted into an evil, hurt smile. "I wouldn't blame her if she was really scared of you – if she never wanted to see you again."

"Shut up." My voice was barely a whisper, sneaking its way out through my gritted teeth.

_Don't get angry. That's what she wants. Come on, don't lose it__ now…_

"Leah," Jake cut in, staring intensely at her.

She ignored him.

"And if she isn't scared now she sure will be once she figures out what you are," Leah continued, her voice in a softer, mocking tone.

I swallowed and tried to keep the anger in check.

But Leah was right. Ricky would be scared if she ever knew what I was. Ricky was scared of normal wolves - she would be terrified of werewolves. The mere thought of her running away from me made my heart ache like a pair of ice cold hands had squeezed it – hard – smothering my heart into a thumping lump, threatening to rip it out and crush it.

"What do you think she'd do, Seth? If someone called her, told her what you are? _Showed_ her what you are?" Leah said. I could hear the threat lying in her voice.

"You wouldn't…" I gasped.

"It would be so easy," she said. "Just telling her and then show her so she'd believe it… She would scream… and run…"

"Leah, stop it!" Jacob said.

Leah twirled around to look at him.

"Or what, Jake? You gonna _order_ me? You gonna bring me to my knees?" she challenged.

Jacob looked down for a second. We all knew how he felt about that.

Leah smiled. She knew exactly what buttons to push.

She wasn't usually this… awful, but I guess me imprinting had sent her over the edge.

"You think your sweetheart would understand if someone told her your deep dark secret, Sethy? Or do you think she would have the silver bullets lined up for your arrival?" Leah said.

"_Leah! Go outside and start patrolling!"_ Jacob told her, a deep force in his voice that made us all flinch. It was a command that hit harder than any other. We could all feel it – in our bones! – even though the command was only directed at Leah.

Leah stared at Jacob for a second her feet crumbling up underneath her. Then she growled and lounged forward, phasing so quickly that we only heard the ripping sound of her clothes before she was gone, breaking out through the door.

We all stood there, staring after her for a second.

Then Jake sighed.

"I had to," he mumbled.

"Of course," Embry quickly agreed.

"Yeah, she was really… You did the right thing. She needed it," Quil said, clapping Jake's shoulder.

"She'll understand once she's calmed down," I insured him.

Jake nodded.

"Well, come on, guys. Patrolling awaits."

***

I didn't go to Port Angeles that night. Leah's half crazy ranting had hit me harder than I wanted to admit.

Was there really a future for me and Ricky? As soon as she knew what I was… she would freak out! She would be scared! Really scared! And I couldn't do anything about it. Sure, it had worked out for the others, but their imprints weren't like Ricky. Their imprints weren't scared of wolves. Their imprints weren't so mistrusting. Their imprints didn't explode in people's faces one moment just to turn all nice and understanding, and patch you up the next.

Leah hadn't said a single word to me since she got home from patrol the night before. She slammed the doors whenever I was around, but other than that she pretty much ignored me. I wondered if Jake might have something to do with that.

I kept in my room most of the day, not wanting to get into another argument with Leah – not really wanting to see her at all, really.

About five in the afternoon our mom came home. I could hear her and Leah shouting at each other – she'd probably noticed the hole in the kitchen wall – but I didn't go down to break them up like I usually would've.

I was too depressed.

My mom called me a couple of minutes later, telling me dinner was ready. I shouted back that I wasn't hungry, and stubbornly refused to answer when she kept calling.

It only took her fifteen minutes before she'd reached her limit.

"Seth! Get down here! Now!"

I sighed and dragged my feet down the stairs, scowling as I got into the kitchen. I was surprised to see that Leah and my mom had already eaten.

"You finished eating?" I asked, looking at my mom as she attacked the dishes.

She was beautiful for her age. Tall – not taller than me of course, but pretty tall – bronze-skinned, with straight black hair all the way down to her shoulders. She was wearing jeans and a blue sweater, and she looked a lot younger than she used to. The wrinkles she had gotten from laughing and smiling for years seemed to have slowly smoothed out until they were almost gone, and the sadness that had laid in her eyes ever since my father died got fainter every day. I suspected it had something to do with Charlie. He made her happy.

My mom threw a quick glance at me.

"For God's sake, Seth. Just because you're not hungry doesn't mean we're not. There is spaghetti on the stove if you change your mind," she told me, turning back to the dishes.

"Why did you call me then?" I demanded.

She nodded her head towards the door.

"Someone's looking for you."

I walked over to the door, ready to smack the door in whoever-it-was's face and get back to my room. I had a lot to think about, and I wasn't in the mood to talk.

I opened the door and peered out to find Edward standing there.

I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Hey, Edward. What are you doing here?" I asked him. "What's wrong? Is someone hurt?"

Edward smiled.

"No one's hurt," he insured me.

"Then what?" I asked. The Cullens were allowed to come here now, but there were still people in our tribe that didn't like them so they didn't visit often.

"I can't just stop by to talk to my friend?" Edward asked, smiling a little too innocently.

I groaned.

"Jake put you up to this, didn't he?" I muttered.

"Oh yeah," Edward grinned. "I didn't even know you had such troubles with your imprint before I caught him thinking about it."

I frowned.

Why would Jacob go around thinking about _my_ imprint?

"Because he's worried about you," Edward answered my thoughts as naturally as if I had spoken it out loud.

"Yeah, I suppose," I said, closing the door behind me. I didn't want mom to hear this and I definitely didn't want Leah to hear this.

Edward gave me a comforting smile.

"What is the problem then?" Edward asked.

That she was scared of wolves. That she probably was stealing things. That she never answered me. That she seemed to get angry if I asked the wrong question. That she didn't trust me – well, not enough to comfy in me, anyway.

"I don't know," I muttered.

Edward raised an eyebrow and I sighed.

This was probably why Jacob had sent Edward in the beginning – there was no use lying to him or only telling him parts of the truth.

"Alright, so I do know," I said, looking away.

Edward laughed softly.

"Keep trying, Seth. Even the fairest rose has thorns, but that doesn't mean it's not worth picking."

I guess it was that statement that made me go racing back to Port Angeles. Edward had his own way of talking, like he was from a different time – which he was – and it sort of… I don't know... Gave me hope.

You'd think I was starting to get tired of spinning back and forth between Port Angeles and La Push, but as I drove I realised that I didn't. If it meant that I would get to be with Ricky I didn't care if it had taken days to get back to my duties in the pack.

I had taken Jake's truck, which he would probably be angry about when he noticed, but I had left my own car here when I got run over and had no other way of getting back to her.

I parked Jacob's car next to mine and got out.

Again I would have to track her down to find her, and this time I would not leave before I had gotten some answers. Something. Anything.

I walked down the street, sniffing the air subtly.

Her scent was weak and distant, but it was there. She must've been in this street today – hours ago probably, but still…

I walked down the street, trying to get a hold of her fleeting scent so that I could follow it. I recognised the direction – she'd been headed for the same house she'd fallen out the window of, or maybe going from it.

I had no way of knowing, so I just hoped she would be there.

It was late now. The sun had disappeared – not that I'd seen it behind the constant clouds hanging over La Push, Forks and Port Angeles, but now the sky had gone completely black except from the silvery light of the nearly full moon. As usual the night was much clearer than the day, and I was grateful for the light. I didn't need it – my eyes adjusted well to the dark and the street lamps were lit anyway – but it was sort of… romantic, and I had made my mind up; I was going to win Ricky over tonight.

Suddenly the street lamps in the empty street blinked.

I guess that really wasn't all that dramatic, but it was something else too. The whole atmosphere changed. The hair on my back stood up like on a cactus, my palms started to sweat and without even knowing it I bended down, flexing my muscles, ready to attack the first thing that moved.

And then I heard something. It was coming from behind me, from an ally, so I spun around staring at it.

Footsteps. Running. A rasping, desperate breath. A panting and a too low, practically silent scream.

Ricky!

I knew it was her before she even reached the street I was standing in. She burst of from an ally, skidded on the moist pavement and kept running straight for me.

Her emerald eyes were wild with fear and her beautiful face drained of blood. Her golden hair danced behind her, spikier and straighter than ever before.

I grabbed a hold of her as she nearly run me over!

She closed her eyes and screamed! Her voice was dry and panting, so I doubted that anyone would hear her. She seemed to realise that too and panicked. She started hitting my chest as hard as she could, kicking her legs, clawing me with her short nails, even biting my cast!

"Ricky! RICKY!" I bellowed.

She must be in danger – no one would be this scared if they weren't in danger. And if she was I needed her to control herself long enough for me to protect her.

I suddenly realised that I might have to show her my wolfself sooner than I'd hoped. That would scare the crap out of her, but if it was what I had to do to make her safe, I would.

Ricky opened her eyes, emeralds a striking, icy green.

"Seth!" she exclaimed, her voice breaking.

"What's wrong?! Ricky?!" I urged, taking her into my arms and swinging her around, putting myself between her and whatever was coming after her.

"Oh, Seth," she sobbed, pressing her face against my chest. The warmth spreading from my heart and through my entire body was almost like a drug. It made me feel lightheaded, happy… giggly.

No! I needed to focus!

"Ricky, what is going on?! What is after you?!" I asked her, my voice sharper than I thought was possible when I spoke to her.

She clung to my chest, sobbing with her eyes closed.

I pulled her away from me, so I could look at her. I was still holding her tightly, though, not willing to let her go, not willing to let go of the wonderful feeling of her against me, her skin against mine.

"Ricky!" My demanding voice almost made me feel bad when she whimpered and opened her eyes, her gaze flickering to the ally behind us.

I didn't need to look – I knew no one was there. I would've heard them at once – and if of some extraordinary reason they walked so silently that I couldn't, I would've smelled them.

"It's gone," she said. She seemed surprised as her eyes again studied the empty opening leading into the ally.

I turned – only slightly, making sure I was still between her and the opening – to see for myself, even though I knew she was right. There was no one there. Not close anyway. There could be someone farther up, keeping an eye at us, listening to us. Could be.

"Listen, I can just take a quick look up the ally and – " I began, but Ricky clutched my hand and stared wildly at me.

"Don't leave me!" she said, her voice soft, pleading.

I looked into her beautiful emerald eyes: They were slowly beginning to warm up, but still shook up. Her beautiful face had just started gaining some of its usual glow, and her golden hair had regained some of its curls.

She was so beautiful.

"Never," I promised her, hugging her to my body again. It was actually quite hard with one arm confined to the evil cast.

She was shivering – whether it was from the cold or the shock I didn't know, but I hugged her closer, warming her as best as I could. Her smell caught me of guard. It was so strong, so close, so… lovely. Her hair curled in the smooth breeze, flowing into my face.

I took a deep breath, letting it overwhelm me. Letting the sweet smell of roses and… Ricky, flow through my body.

"I want to go home," she whispered.

I didn't let go of her. If anything I held her even closer, supporting most of her weight as well. She seemed weaker. Tired. Nothing like her normal feisty self.

"Where do you live?" I asked her.

She hesitated as if she didn't want me to know.

"You remember the house where you… saw me fall and caught me?" she breathed, her voice barely even a whisper now.

"Yes," I murmured. Of course I remembered.

"I live there," she told me.

I swiped her off her feet and into my arms in one fluid movement. My arm gave me a sharp sting of pain, but I ignored it. I could endure much more pain than that if it meant I could be near Ricky. Then I started walking. I knew where it was. I had been walking the same way, looking for her.

I had gotten almost half the way to the street where I had seen her fall when she suddenly spoke again.

"You don't have to carry me," she told me, looking up. "I can walk now."

"It's fine. You're not heavy," I answered. I had barely noticed her weight in my hands had it not been for the electricity flowing through me at her touch.

"Put me down," she commanded. Her voice was soft, but the message clear.

I obediently lowered her to the ground, again waiting until I was perfectly sure she had found her balance before I let go of her.

"You're burning up," she said as her hands traced over my naked arm and the cast, leaving a trail of burning fire on my skin. I trembled slightly at her touch. Did she know how she affected me? Did she even have a clue? "If anything I should be carrying you," she continued, looking at my cast without noticing my tremble. "Is it broken?"

"Yeah, but it is fine," I insured her, shrugging. My hands longed for her as soon as I let go, but I forced them down to my sides.

"You know, you don't have to walk me all the way home," she said, looking down. I noticed the difference at once. She was putting her walls back up.

"I know, but I'll worry about you all night if I don't," I replied, allowing myself to step a little closer to her as we continued walking down the street.

She nodded weakly in response.

"So… you live in that house?" I asked, biting my lip in regret. "I thought – "

"I know what you thought," she bit me off, eyes straight ahead.

"Listen Ricky, I'm sorry I thought you were stealing," I told her. I grimaced as I heard how my voice sounded. Too much feeling. Too much regret. Too much anguish for having judged her like that. She heard it too.

She turned to look at me, scrutinized my face for something, then almost smiled as she found it.

"But what was I supposed to think?" I asked her, looking away. I shouldn't press her like this, letting her see how desperately I needed her. "Who breaks into their own house?" I barked.

Ricky scowled at me and I opened my mouth to take it back, but she beat me to it.

"I said I lived there, not that it was my house," she barked back.

I stopped and looked at her.

"You've broken in and are _living_ there?" I coughed out.

Ricky rolled her emerald green eyes at me, and touched her curly blonde hair subconsciously.

"I didn't break in," she insured me. She wasn't as angry as last time, but an annoyed crease was carving into her forehead as we spoke. "I live there. _Officially_," she added sourly. "But it's not my house."

The way she said it made me understand the conversation was over, but I still didn't understand what she was talking about. Well, of course she didn't _own_ it. Her parents owned it. Or maybe they didn't. Maybe that was what she was trying to say.

We walked the last five minutes in silence. Then we reached her house… I mean, the house she was living in. Officially.

She went over to the wall and started climbing up without another word.

I stared at her, scared out of my mind, but knowing better than to distract her like the last time.

Her hair danced in the wind, curling and uncurling as she got higher and higher. She was wearing her boots again, and dark, washed out jeans. She had a simple black sweater on which brought out her natural beauty and striking emerald eyes and golden, curly hair. She had an almost inhuman beauty as she grabbed the windowsill and pulled herself up, her hair flushing wildly down her back.

When she had placed herself securely on the windowsill she turned to look at me, eyes melting.

"Do you think you can manage to climb up with that arm?" she asked me.

My heart skipped several beats, making my chest explode with an intense cutting feeling. A feeling somewhere between pain and absolute joy.

She wanted me to climb up!

"Um, I… Yes," I blurted out, hurrying over to the wall and starting to climb momentarily. Climbing up a wall was no problem for me, not even with a broken arm. I could probably have jumped up, but I figured that would scare her, so I settled for dragging myself up by my good arm.

When I reached the window Ricky had already disappeared inside. I swung my feet over the edge and jumped in myself.

I was in a square shaped room with neutral, beige walls. There was a bed placed against the wall straight across the room, with simple white sheets on. It didn't look like it had ever been slept in. Next to it was a desk with a single vase standing on it. The vase was empty. Next to the window there was a dresser. And that was it.

Ricky was standing awkwardly by the bed, fiddling with her hair. Her green eyes sparkled at me, and again I wondered what it meant. I could read almost every look in those emerald eyes – they always showed her emotions even if her face didn't – but I could not figure out what that sparkle meant.

"Is this your room?" I asked her.

She nodded silently and reached for the light switch on the wall.

The light blinked and suddenly a ceiling full of stars twinkled down at me. I looked up and gasped. Her entire ceiling was covered in small lights, twisting and turning in the most beautiful patterns.

Ricky smiled by my reaction and sat down on the bed. I hesitated, then I walked over and sat down beside her.

"Tell me what happened," I said, looking into her eyes, trying to read her thoughts. This had been the second time I found her scared out of her mind, running from something horrible. If she would just trust me…

"Nothing happened," she mumbled, emeralds stiffening slightly.

"You came running into my arms like you'd seen a ghost," I pointed out to her, not giving up. I had decided that I would not go back to La Push unless I knew she was safe, and before she told me what was scaring her so much I could never be sure if I should worry about her or not. I would sleep on the curb outside her window if I had to!

"No ghosts," she insured me, ripping her eyes away, gazing down at her feet.

I sighed and placed my hand on her chin. I slowly turned her face up, forcing her to look at me, forcing her to let me see the only thing that would give me answers to my questions. Her eyes. The emeralds melted as I looked into them, and for a second I was about to drop the whole thing just because I knew she didn't want to talk about it. But of course I couldn't drop it. I had to know.

"Ricky, what happened?" I asked her.

Her eyes sparkled again.

"Why do you think something happened?" she asked me back.

I couldn't help but smiling. Again with the evasive questions as answers to mine.

"First of all you called me Seth," I said. She grinned, her face showing some of the softness form within. "Something _had_ to be wrong. Besides, you came running out of that ally like the hellhounds were in your heels."

She shuttered and I regretted my words.

_She's afraid of dogs, stupid!_

"Just tell me," I said persuasively, looking straight into her eyes.

Ricky bowed her head so that her blonde curls poured over her, hiding her face like a thick curtain.

"Can I ask you something first?" she asked, her voice small. Stalling, no doubt.

"Sure." The answer came a little too quickly. I couldn't deny her something she wanted, and I knew it. I didn't want her to know, though. Not now. I was still afraid of coming off too strong and scaring her away.

Ricky looked up at me again, her eyes studying my face.

"Okay, don't laugh, but…" She bit her lip and pulled a strand of golden hair back behind her ear. "Do you believe in werewolves?"

The question caught me completely of guard.

"Werewolves? Um… Why do you ask?" I wondered, trying not to look too guilty. Ricky didn't seem to notice my evasive gaze, or maybe she thought it was just because I thought the whole thing was stupid, because the next thing she said came rushing out through her lips in a blur.

"I know, it's stupid and… I don't know why I even…" Her voice trailed off and she looked down again, walls rising.

"It's not stupid," I said.

She shook her head, trying to brush the conversation away.

"Tell me," I pleaded, my voice soothing.

She took a deep breath and stared at me like she was trying to look straight through my calm expression and into my chaotic head.

Did she know? She couldn't know! It wasn't possible. How would she have guessed something like that?

"Well…" she started. "I've been seeing this _huge_ dog lately. Well, wolf really. Every night, I can hear it outside my bedroom window, climbing up the wall, howling from the pavement, on the roof… and if I try to run…" She shuddered. "It never leaves me alone. Every time I see a dog I think it's the wolf. I haven't slept in weeks!" She exhaled sharply and looked into my eyes. "That was what I was running from that night I met you."

I stared at her.

"Really?" I coked out. She wasn't talking about me. Someone else was chasing her, and it was scaring the hell out of her. But who would do such a thing?

If I knew I would have destroyed him! But the only wolves I knew wouldn't do something like that – I knew that. So who was it then?

Ricky seemed to getting smaller just by thinking about it. She held a tense position, her shoulders high and hands balled into fists. Suddenly she leaned closer to me and I put I my arm around her. It was so natural I barely noticed it before I suddenly felt my heart hammering in my chest and Ricky snuggled closer. That little movement drained all the anger out of me.

I could always destroy the werewolf later…

"I don't know… Is it all in my head? Am I going crazy?!" Ricky huffed, her voice thick with emotion.

"No, no," I said, combing through her silky hair with my hand. "I'm sure you're not," I told her.

She smiled up at me, an unconvinced smile, emeralds still melted and warm.

"What does this wolf look like?" I asked her before she got time to start questioning me. I had to found this fellow and tell him to back off. If he didn't get the message I would _make_ him back off! _No one _messed with my Ricky!

_My Ricky…_

Ricky wrinkled her forehead as she thought that through.

"It's grey… Bigger than normal wolves, teeth as huge as daggers, ragged fur…" she listed, biting a lip. "You really don't think I'm crazy?"

"I know you're not," I assured her, holding her closer. "What was it you took the other day? You know, when I thought you were stealing and made you fall out the window." I figured I might as well try to get some answers out of her now that she finally gave me some. "Sorry about that, by the way," I added, sending her an apologetic glance.

She smiled, her emerald eyes sparkling again.

"A silver knife," she told me, blushing. "You know the legends about werewolves? Some say that silver hurts them, so I figured… Well… It wrecked my bike," she said, as if that explained it all. "It ran after me and as I reached my bike it clawed it open, ruining the whole thing. I had to do _something_."

"How did you get away?" My voice was a deep whisper. I couldn't trust my voice to carry me – the fear and anger was building up inside me, making it hard to sit still and listen when I really wanted to hunt this guy down and tear him apart.

"I'm a good runner," she murmured and snuggled closer. "And I knew you were looking out for me. You make me feel safe, Indian Boy."

I smiled and wound my fingers into her hair. Ricky leaned closer, placing one hand on my chest.

Then I kissed her.

I placed my lips on hers giving her two small kisses. Her lips were so soft – so perfect – I couldn't make myself stop there. I pressed closer, kissing her more hungrily, caressing her perfect features with my hand. She turned, placing one hand behind my head, winding her fingers into my hair. The other hand was still on my chest, and I was convinced that she must've felt my heart pounding through my skin. Her finger traced up and down my shirt and left a trail of fire that felt so real, so good, that I never wanted it to stop.

Her lips parted slightly as we kissed and a feeling of liquid lightning flushed through my body.

I let out a small moan as I tried to pull her closer, one hand wound around her waist, the other aching with the sudden movement as I tried to press it against the small of her back. She pulled in a sip of air and as she pressed against me again we both lost our balance and stretched out on the bed. I banged my head against the wall and bit my tongue.

"Ow," I muttered.

She looked up, emeralds sparkling like never before. Then she blushed.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I got a little… carried away."

"I'm okay," I said, breathing slowly in and out. "I heal quickly."

She exhaled sharply and let her head rest against my chest. Her hair laid spread out around us, curling and golden.

My whole life was perfect in that second. The pain left in my chest since my father died was healed, my worries about Leah was soothed, the fear and confusion that sometimes caught up with me due to all the weird, unexplainable things around me didn't even matter anymore.

Ricky was here, in my arms. That was all I needed.

"Tell me something," she murmured into my chest. "I like the sound of your voice."

"Okay…"

I thought about it for a second before I started.

I told her the Quileute legend. The one about werewolves. If she wanted me to tell her something I might as well lay some groundwork for the future and try to make her think of werewolves as friends - protectors.

After I finished we just laid there for a while, in complete silence.

"You know what I said earlier?" Ricky suddenly asked. "The part about you being naïve, too trusting and a townie and all that?"

I nodded sleepily.

"What about it?"

She shifted in my arms so that she could stare up at me with her lovely emerald eyes.

"I didn't mean it – not the way I said it anyway. It's not really that you're a naïve and trusting, it's just… that's how I feel whenever I'm with you – like there could be magic and fairytale endings – and I'm not sure if I like it. I'm a city girl – I don't just trust people! And still… I can't help but trusting you. Whenever I'm with you I feel so safe in a sort of naïve, anything is possible kind of way. I don't know why."

I hugged her closer to me, looking down at her twinkling green eyes.

I had been wrong.

Imprinting didn't suck at all.

**Okay, so it was a little longer, and we finally got some idea why Ricky is being weird xD ****I put some Cullens in there as well. Tell me what you think!**

**Just push that button right there -**

**Come on!**


	6. Chapter 6 Betrayal

**I had all but forgotten about this story, when I suddenly got a new comment, and a couple of Story Alerts, so I figured that since I wasn't writing anything else at the moment I might as well finish this one. That is the power of comments, people, so read and review. **

6. BETRAYAL

When I woke up I was confused.

I had had the most wonderful dream. I had been kissing Ricky, and then we'd talked and it had felt so…

I looked up.

It hadn't been a dream at all!

I was in a very boring room, with beige walls, a table, a dresser, a bed… The ceiling was full of twinkling lights.

Ricky's room.

I took in the look of her room one more time before I sunk back into the pillow.

I lay sprawling on the bed, taking as much room as possible with my arms and legs spread out. Ricky was lying next to me, her head resting on my chest. She was curled up, looking smaller and more fragile than ever. Her hair had spilled over her shoulder, protecting the upper side of her body. It was curly again – huge, blonde curls.

Her eyes were shut and she was breathing so restfully that I knew she was sleeping. She was never this calm when she was awake.

I traced her soft features with my one good hand, following her jaw line to her cheeks, over her eyes, down her nose, over her soft lips…

She looked so peaceful. More peaceful than I'd ever seen her. She seemed to always be on her toes. It might have something to do with the fact that she was being chased by a werewolf, but somehow I got the feeling that it went deeper than that. She never let her guard down. Except for last night. She had finally talked to me, finally told me what was wrong. And we'd kissed.

A strong feeling of joy flushed through me at the thought.

Suddenly Ricky squirmed and her eyes flew open. Her emerald eyes darted across the room, like she expected something to be wrong. They landed on me.

"I fell asleep," she said. She sounded surprised.

I smiled down at her, trying to relax her alarmed expression.

"Yeah, me too," I told her.

She rubbed her tired eyes and sat up, making her golden hair bounce lightly from her shoulder and down her back, curls stretching.

"I shouldn't have done that. If that wolf had been here…" Her voice trailed off as she got up and hurried over to the window. It was still half open from when we climbed in.

Ricky stuck her head out, staring down the street, letting her hair spill out of the window and dance in the even wind.

"You're safe," I insured her.

"Well, that's part of the problem," she said as she pulled her head back inside and closed the window carefully. "I feel so safe with you that all my defences just crumble up. If the wolf had come looking for me last night it would probably have killed us both," she said as she paced back and forth in the room with an anxious expression.

I snorted.

"I can handle the wolf," I said.

"A very brave thing to say and a very stupid thing to think," she replied curtly. "This wolf is huge. Normal people would have trouble dealing with a normal wolf, but this… it's stronger, faster, more determined than other wolves."

"Ever considered that I might not be normal?" I asked her getting up as well.

She didn't seem to have heard what I'd said. She pulled her hair away from her face and twirled a lock of it around her finger absentmindedly. I smiled. I loved the way she always pushed her hair away from her face, but never pulled it up into a ponytail.

"Listen, Seth," Ricky started and I looked up into her eyes. She'd called me Seth again. "Maybe you shouldn't come here after dark anymore. That's when it comes."

"Then that's exactly when I'll be here," I told her stubbornly.

She sighed.

"Please, Seth. I would feel terrible if you got hurt," she said. "It would've been all my fault."

"Well, how do you think I would feel if you got hurt and I wasn't here to protect you?" I asked her, stopping her frenetic pacing by placing my hands on her shoulders. "I won't let anyone hurt you. Ever," I told her quietly, my voice sinking to a whisper. She sighed and leaned her forehead against my chest.

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Indian Boy," she whispered back.

We just stood there for a minute, holding each other.

Then suddenly the door flew open.

A woman in a yellow robe stood in the doorway, staring at us. Her hair was black and straight, barely reaching her ears. It looked like a wig. Too perfect. She had dark, sharp eyes, framed by thick glasses and a very small mouth, which now dropped open.

"Erica!" she howled, outraged.

_Erica?_

Ricky jumped in my arms as if she had gotten an electric shock. Her head snapped up, looking at the door where the woman stood. In one fluid movement, she freed herself from my hold and in two long strides ended up by the door, glaring daggers at the woman.

"This is _my_ room!" Ricky snapped, her voice dripping with poison. "Get out!" she shouted and slammed the door in the woman's face.

I could only see Ricky's back, but that was enough. Her posture was tense, her blonde curls straight and angry. Whoever this woman was she did not have a good relationship with Ricky.

_Erica…_

Was that her name? Erica? It didn't fit her as well as Ricky.

Ricky cleared her throat and turned to look at me.

"Um, maybe you should go. She's going to yell at me for a couple of hours now, and it might be best for both of us if you weren't here while she did it," she said, not meeting my glance.

"Was that your mother?" I asked her, furrowing my eyebrows. I hadn't seen the resemblance at all, but maybe she looked more like her father.

"_Mother?_" Ricky huffed. "No."

"Then who – "

"I'll explain later, okay?" she cut me off, looking up at me.

I nodded.

"Okay. I'll be back tonight," I told her, moving towards the window.

"Seth – " she protested, but it was my turn to cut her off. I twirled around looking straight into her stiff emeralds.

"I won't let it hurt you," I told her truthfully. I wouldn't let _anything_ hurt her!

She looked down and sighed.

"Fine, be stupid then." She glared at me.

"Thank you," I answered, shooting her a smile.

I leaned in and kissed her forehead. I held my lips there a second longer than I would have on anyone else, hesitant to leave her. Then I pulled back, already aching from the knowledge that there would be hours until I saw her again.

She looked up, her eyes meeting mine. I don't know what she saw in them. Maybe my longing for her was as evident as it felt, or the sadness of having to leave her was as plain in my face as it was in my heart. No matter what the reason was she placed both her hands on my chest and curled her fingers into my shirt. She dragged me down, so that my face was in her height and then she kissed me. Her lips were soft, careful, moving with mine in a couple of perfect seconds. Then she pulled away, emeralds sparkling in her eyes.

"See you tonight then," she whispered.

I nodded, not able to speak yet.

_She kissed me!_

I turned to the window and sat down on the windowsill. I didn't even think about it as I let myself fall out and landed smoothly on the pavement underneath.

"Seth!" Ricky shrieked, and for a moment I thought she was in danger. Then I noticed she had hung her head out of the window, blonde curls flushing over the windowsill, and was staring at me with shock written all over her face.

_Oh, right, I'm supposed to be normal_, I reminded myself dryly. I had been preoccupied with the fact that she had kissed me, her sweet scent intoxicating the sane part of my brain. I was better now.

I sent her a reassuring smile.

"Slipped," I explained.

She rolled her eyes and disappeared inside again.

.

It wasn't before I was in my car on my way back to La Push that an infuriating thought hit me.

Leah!

She wouldn't really… would she?

As if called upon her mocking, threatening voice echoed in my head; _"What do you think she'd do, Seth? If someone called her, told her what you are? _Showed_ her what you are?"_

She wouldn't really do something like that, would she? I mean, sure, she could be a total bitch at times, but come on! She wouldn't…

I thought back to two nights ago, remembering the hurt look on her face.

A terrible, forceful anger flushed through me. Leah had scared the living crap out of Ricky! And she was going to pay for it!

I can't really remember the drive home; I was simply blinded by the white fury I felt for my sister, and the only thing that kept me from phasing and running back to La Push was the fantasies about numerous ways of killing her. Twisting her neck, bullet through the brain, breaking every single bone in her body, one at a time, very slowly…

This time she had gone too far!

My truck roared up the driveway in front of my house, and I jumped out without even killing the engine. Mum's truck was gone, which was good. She did not need to see this. On the other hand the entire pack seemed to be here. That could get problematic. They would probably try to break us up.

I practically ripped the door off its hinges as I opened it and marched into the kitchen. Everyone was there, sitting around the table, eating. Leah as well. They all looked up when I entered.

"Hey, Seth. Where have you been, man?" Quil greeted.

"And what did you do with my car?" Jake followed up.

I didn't answer. I simply went straight for Leah, jumping at her and phasing midair. She let out a confused yelp as I landed on top of her, tearing her down from her chair. I lashed out with my paw, claws and all, towards her bronze throat! Only when my paw hit its destination her throat was no longer there. Leah had phased too.

I growled loudly – so loudly that the glasses on the table shook!

Leah took advantage of my distraction and bit my foot – just above where my elbow would be – and I roared again, this time in pain! But her plan had worked. I instinctively pulled my foot away, and she escaped from underneath me, getting up and attaching me from behind!

It was strange fighting with someone that knew your thoughts. Leah was much better at it than I was. I was too wrapped up in my own furious mind to pay attention to hers, while she seemed confused by the whole thing and read my mind intently for details. This only led her to predict my every move and dodge my lashes and bites.

I did get in some good hits, though. As she jumped me from behind, and sunk her teeth into the flesh on my neck, I howled out in pain, and threw her over me and onto the floor! There I stabbed my claws into her chest, holding her down, while snapping my jaws toward her neck.

The rest of the pack had phased now, trying to read our minds to find out exactly what this was all about, and break us up.

"_What did she do? Talk to us, Seth!_"

"_Thanks a lot, Embry. Why does it have to be my fault?_" Leah snapped, writhing out of my hold, and clawing my across the nose. I cried out in pain and lashed out at Embry who was trying to shove me off her.

"_Seth wouldn't behave like this otherwise._"

"_Come on, man! Relax!_" Quil shouted at me.

"_SHE SCARED RICKY! SHE COULD'VE HURT RICKY!_" I bellowed inside my own head, sending the rest of the pack flinching back. My fury coloured the entire scene in a sharp red. With a new deafening roar I leaned forward towards Leah's unprotected neck, revealing my shiny fangs and –

"_Seth! STOP IT RIGHT NOW!"_

I could feel my body being paralysed by Jacob's words. My legs crumbled up underneath me and I fell down on top of Leah, who shrugged my limp body off of her, and set a paw in my face as she got up.

I snapped after her, but she was already out of reach.

"_Seriously, Seth, what is wrong with you?"_ Jacob chastised me, stepping in between me and my sister.

I had followed his command, though, and stopped, so I could once again move my limbs freely. I got to my feet as well, standing face to face with him – well, he was still nearly a head taller than me, so I settled for glaring daggers at Leah who was hiding behind him.

"_I could take you any time, dog!"_ Leah barked, taking a step forwards so that she was standing next to Jacob. I took a step forwards too, my eyes never leaving her furry face.

"_Sit down, Seth!"_ Jacob commanded. I reluctantly followed his order, knowing I had no other choice. "_Now what is going on?_"

I told them everything that had happened at Ricky's, about the wolf, and how I had figured out that it must be Leah.

"_What are you talking about, Seth? I wouldn't do that_," Leah said.

"_Who else would do something like that, huh?_" I hissed at her, ready to jump at her again. I thought back to our last argument, what she had said about telling Ricky what I was, _showing_ her.

Jake growled to make me stay seated.

"_I agree that Leah had been a bit more cranky than usual_," he said. Leah scowled. "_But seriously, Seth, none of us would ever do something like that. And even if we did the others would know it in a second. We can hear each other's thoughts, remember?_"

I realised that what he said was true, and froze, listening intently to Leah's thoughts. She hadn't done it.

"_That's right, you idiot_," she sneered. "_I don't like your silly imprints, but I don't go around attacking people either._"

I smiled sheepishly, and apologized. Of course she hadn't done it; she was my sister after all. Come to think of it the first attack had happened when I met Ricky, and hijacked her motorbike. Leah _couldn't_ have done it.

"_All right. Do you think we might phase back now? The kitchen is kinda crowded with all these wolves here_," Leah said.

We phased back one after one, and I was careful to turn my back to Leah when she changed. From now on I would try to bother her as little as possible. I still felt guilty for lashing out on her.

"Now where have you been the past eleven hours. We haven't heard from you since we went patrolling. Edward said you went to Port Angeles," Quil said, pulling his ripped clothes back on.

"Oh, yeah, I slept over at Ricky's hou – "

"You slept with her?" The boys stared at me, and Leah rolled her eyes.

"As in _sleeping_, not… you know," I clarified, clearing my throat.

We lifted the kitchen table back in its place, and continued with the breakfast. We ate and laughed, and the boys asked me when they could meet Ricky, but I only barely paid attention. Leah hadn't been chasing Ricky, but someone had. And this someone was still out there.


	7. Chapter 7 Tattoo

**Hi again. **

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**And thank you to those who did review – you were the ones who made me keep writing.**

**7. TATTOOS**

After I had finished eating I was anxious to get back to Port Angeles, but for once I had to patrol with the others. I tried to tell them that Ricky was in danger every second I was away from her, but that just earned me a full ten minute lecture about how they all felt like they had to be with their imprints at all times, and that they might be in danger too. Leah left in the middle of the conversation, slamming the door behind her.

I was starting to feel really bad for her. She was the only one who had really _wanted_ to imprint, and the only one it hadn't happened to yet. Instead she had watched every one of us imprint, and phasing into wolf form, which once had been a relief of sorts because you could give into your animal instincts, were now filled with our thoughts about our imprints. Our entire existence revolved around them.

"Fine, okay, I'll come with you," I said, holding up my hands in surrender. My broken hand had already healed, the cast ripped off from when I phased.

Five minutes later we were running around the border, sniffing at vampire trails and otherwise just wasting our time.

"_Oh, shut up, Seth_," Quil sneered from behind me, snapping his jaw as he read my thoughts.

"_What would you have done if a werewolf was chasing Claire?_" I snapped back.

"_Give it a rest, Seth. Werewolves are harmless – we should know_," Embry said, butting in.

"_It's probably just an ordinary wolf_," Quil grumbled.

"_In the middle of Port Angeles?_" I challenged. "_In that case someone would have seen it._"

"_Maybe she's crazy_," Leah suggested. I growled in response, but didn't attack her. I still felt bad for having jumped to the conclusion that she was doing this.

"_It's probably nothing_," Jacob agreed. "_But we have never met another werewolf. As far as I know only the Quileute has legends about werewolves. Maybe there's another tribe out there like ours. I'll mention it to Carlisle the next time I see him. Maybe he can shed some light over this_."

We continued our patrol, speeding up as we looped around and headed back; Sam's pack would patrol the other half. As soon as we reached our house I phased back and hurried inside for some new clothes. I was even more anxious to get back to Ricky's side now that I knew she was being chased by a werewolf, but consoled myself with the fact that she had said the werewolf only came at night. Of course that wasn't a guarantee. I knew on good authority that werewolves could phase no matter what time of the day it was, but I reasoned that maybe this particular wolf, whoever he might be, only had time to chase beautiful girls at night.

By the time I reached Port Angeles, though, it was already getting darker. The thick clouds that covered the sky in these parts, even in the summer, had rolled in and suffocated what little sunshine there was. I left the car a block from the house Ricky lived in, but was not her house. When I reached the wall of her house I sped up, running directly into the wall, and found a step in the dilapidated stonewall. I jumped, grabbing a hold of her windowsill, and dragged myself up. Her window was slightly ajar, enough that I could wrench it open and swing me feet inside. I grinned to myself, and closed the window behind me. Then I turned around and realised the room was empty.

I stood frozen a moment, wondering where she could have gone. I was just about to jump back out, and start sniffing for her, when I heard a sigh of relief next to me.

"Seth, for God's sake." I turned, and found Ricky standing with her back against the wall, half hidden by the curtain. "You scared the living hell out of me. I thought you were... you know." She walked into the room, placing the silver knife on her desk.

"I said I was coming," I told her, walking in after her. I couldn't help but let my heart swell with relief – relief that she was okay, relief that I was finally with her. Every time we were apart it felt like I had an itch I couldn't scratch, a pain I couldn't heal, but it all disappeared once I saw her again.

I sat down on her bed, watching her as she paced the room.

"And I told you that you shouldn't come. If that... _thing_ attacks I don't know what..."

"Relax. We'll be fine," I said, smiling soothingly at her. "Come here."

She gave me a long look before she sighed and came to sit beside me.

"You know it's a lot harder being callous towards you when I've had a complete meltdown in front of you," she told me, scowling a little, as though it was my fault. "I wish I hadn't told you about the wolf thing. You must think I'm insane."

"Not at all," I replied, being drowned in her scent all over again. It was funny how I still managed to be surprised at how good she smelled. It had only been five hours and twenty-three minutes since I last saw her.

She sighed but didn't answer, her emerald eyes darting towards the window every other second. I had to come up with something to distract her.

"That woman that walked in this morning..." I said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"What about her?"

"Well, I was wondering who she is," I said.

Ricky smiled, some of her old wit glinting in her eyes.

"Why don't you ask me then?"

I rolled my eyes.

"Ricky, who was that woman who burst in here this morning?"

She smirked, silently teasing me, but then her smile slowly faded.

"Ever heard of something called a foster home?" she asked me. "You know, the whole foster parent thing – you take in a kid that is not yours to see if you like her, and if you do, you adopt her, except no one ever does."

I observed her silently, watched the blue come out in her eyes.

"I know what it is."

Her eyes turned hard as she continued, sitting up straighter beside me.

"Well, I'm one of those unfortunate suckers being shipped around like a bag of flour. But not for much longer… In one week I turn eighteen and then… I'm free." She pressed out a smile and I felt my chest tighten.

"What will you do?" I asked, trying not to choke on the words.

"Oh, you know," she said, surprised by the question. "See the world, I guess. I might go to Europe."

I swallowed loudly, a new fear that had nothing to do with werewolves flowing through me.

"But... I mean, can you afford it?"

She looked over at me, narrowing her eyes.

"Maybe I should climb into another house and steal something," she suggested, raising an eyebrow at me. I was momentarily sidetracked.

"You could've just told me that you didn't steal that knife, you know."

She sighed.

"I know. But the stealing wasn't the point. The point was that people always thinks the worst of me just because I don't have parents and get shipped around like this. People just assume that I'm a bad kid, you know?"

"But I didn't know you were a foster kid," I said. "I didn't judge you because you don't have parents. I judged you by the fact that I saw you coming out the window with something. Most people use the door, you know."

She smiled bleakly.

"I guess you're right," she sighed. "I'm just so used to be defensive that it's hard to let it go. I don't let people in. It's easier that way."

I took her into my arms, dragging her closer so that she was leaning against my chest.

"If you just let them in and talked to them you'd be surprised at how well they'd like you," I told her truthfully. I couldn't believe that no one had adopted her. How could someone not like her?

"But if I let them in and they sent me away it would be too painful. I used to let them in when I was younger. But they always sent me away. I just... I can't go through that again."

I hugged her closer to my chest, burying my face in her hair. I wanted so badly to take away all the pain she had ever experienced, all the things that could yet hurt her, but I couldn't find the right words.

"I'll never leave you," I whispered into her ear. She closed her eyes, leaning into me for a couple of seconds. Then she pulled back.

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Indian Boy," she said, getting up.

Right then and there I wanted to tell her everything. I wanted to explain what I was, and that I had imprinted on her. I wanted her to understand that I hadn't made a promise I couldn't keep, but rather stated the truth. I wanted her to know that I would never leave her. But I knew this wasn't the time. She was already on edge, scared of this wolf. If I started telling her these things now she would freak out.

"Hey, wasn't your hand broken?" she suddenly asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Um, yes, I mean no, it was just... fractured. It's all better now," I said, grimacing as I tried to come up with something to distract her, looking around her room for inspiration. "Now I understand why your room looks like this. You've just gotten here," I said, changing the subject. She looked around her.

"I came three months ago," she said. "I just never unpack. It saves time."

I ached when she spoke like this. Her voice was dethatched and empty, like she didn't really care, but there was an undercurrent of emotion that hurt much more than if she had said the words with tears in her eyes, because that undercurrent told me she was used to this; used to get hurt.

At least I had manage to distract her from my all to rapid healing.

"So what do you want to do?" she asked.

I blinked. "What?"

"Well, if you are going to stay and be my personal body guard – " she rolled her eyes again, as though she very much doubted my ability to protect her. " – we might as well do something to kill the time." I smiled. I could imagine a hundred ways of killing time in Ricky's room. "How about we watch a movie?" she suggested. It was not exactly what I had had in mind, but I wasn't one to disagree with my imprint.

"Sure," I said.

"Okay, let me just change into something a little more comfortable," she said, and walked over to her closet. She rifled through her drawers, deciding on a blue set of sweats. And then without warning she twisted her top off, her naked back turned to me.

I gawked at her, suddenly unable to speak. She was half naked. In front of me. As my breathing became strained I noticed her tattoos. Dozens of letters engraved between her shoulder blades, leading down towards the small of her back. They didn't hold my attention long, though. I could see the muscles working under her tanned skin, hear the thrumming as her heart pumped blood through her body, and feel the air pulse between us. It would be so easy to walk over and kiss her neck, lean close, and let things happen. But I couldn't. This wasn't some random girl – this was the girl I was going to spend my life with, and before anything like that happened I would have to tell her about what I was, make her understand.

I cleared my throat and looked away, concentrating on the window.

She laughed at me.

"Do you always feel the need to look away when girls undress in front of you?" she asked, and I could tell she was facing me now.

I swallowed.

"It's not really a... usual occurrence… And…" I choked on my words. "You… might want some privacy."

She laughed again.

"Townie," she muttered, a teasing tone in her voice. "There, I'm done," she said, sitting down beside me. I swallowed again, and turned to look at her. She was dressed, handing me a stack of DVDs. I slowly started going through them, reading the description on the back of the cover, but I couldn't concentrate.

"What were those letters on your back?" I finally asked, unable to keep it in any longer.

"Oh, so you _were_ looking?" Ricky said, arching an eyebrow.

"Well, I..." I blushed. "I couldn't help it."

She grinned at me, but then her smile faltered.

"It's a foster kid thing. Some kids write down the names on a piece of paper, some etch it into their belongings. I tattoo it on my back," she said in the same casual, detached voice.

"Tattoo what on your back?" I asked.

"The initials of each family that didn't want me," she answered, looking down on the DVD in her hands.

"Ricky, I'm sorry."

"It's fine," she said, holding a hand up to keep me from hugging her again. "It's just... It's fine," she repeated.

I was about to say something more, something that would console her, convince her that she wasn't alone in the world, but just then I smelled something, and froze.

Wolf.

In a second I was by the window, looking down into the dark street, my wolf senses fighting for control in my human body. There was a wolf nearby – a stinking, terrible wolf. I scanned the street for signs, breathing his scent. And then I saw him.

He was huge, much bigger than a normal wolf, but that I had expected from the start. This was a werewolf. Even though he was at the end of the street I could see the intelligent glint in his eyes as he glared at me, the long teeth that could cut through vampire skin. But there was something else as well; a fierceness in the way he stood, an untameable wilderness about him that made me hesitate. He was different than any werewolf I had met. He was too... savage. His pelt was grey, ripped and ragged, as though he had been in a serious fight, his paws bloody and raw.

I growled deep in my throat, glaring back at him, knowing that he must smell the wolf in me.

For a second we stood there, staring each other down. Then he turned around and left.

"Seth?" Ricky said, her tone worried. "What is it?"

"Nothing. I thought I heard something," I said, turning back to her. She still sat on the bed, a suspicious look in her eyes. "It was nothing," I assured her again.

She stared at me a minute longer, then shook her head.

"Sometimes you are so strange. What do you guys _do_ down in La Push?" she asked.

I came to sit beside her, wracking my brain for something normal to tell her.

"Um, well, Jake's got a couple of bikes so we drive them around sometimes… And there's cliff diving." _And vampire chases, and phasing werewolves looking out for the tribe._

"It's September," she said. "Way too cold for cliff diving."

"Um, well, I'm going to this bonfire thing tomorrow," I suddenly remembered. "Just me and some of my friends. And I was sort of wondering… if you…" My voice died away, and I raised an eyebrow at her.

"If I?" she repeated, raising her eyebrow in return, mimicking me.

"If you wanted to…"

"If I wanted to…?" She smiled her wicked smile at me. She was going to make me say it.

"I was wondering if you maybe wanted to come," I finally said.

"Ever thought about asking?" she asked me, still grinning.

I groaned. She was really going to make me say it.

"Erica, do you want to come to this bonfire thing with me?"

"Sure," she said. "On the condition that you never call me Erica ever again."

I grinned.

"Wow, a straight forward answer. I thought you didn't answer questions that way."

"I make exceptions," she answered, grinning back.


End file.
